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The Photograph
The snowflakes tumble down like frozen tears,
Which fall from every eye this winter day;
They heard the call and answered without fear,
Their country to defend without delay.
A couple stands away from all the rest:
Her head is bent, her shoulders hunched in grief,
His jacket bears the military crest,
His whispered sentences are choked and brief.
Upon the cold platform they stand and wait,
The snowy silence speaking for their hearts;
This painful parting nothing can abate,
For Heaven knows the time they’ll be apart.
They do not feel the cold of winter’s chill,
The biting wind around them does not sting.
The train has pulled in now, its whistle shrill;
For one last moment to each other cling.
This parting, captured in this photograph
And held through time, a relic of the past,
Perhaps the couple’s only epitaph,
A memory of a time that long has passed.
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Spring Growth
The sun grows stronger in the sky
Its warmth cuts through the morning’s chill:
The mist is lifted, soon are dry
The dewdrops on the daffodil.
Below me in the field I hear
The frolicking of calves and lambs,
The blissful bleats and bells quite near
To where in silent thought I stand.
The youth and joy that’s all around
Could warm the hardest heart of stone.
As thoughts within my own heart sound,
I realize how I too have grown.
Much like the early flowers of spring
I raised my head to frost and sleet;
Instead of sunshine, icy sting
With naught but rocks to plant my feet.
But like the phlox and wobbling calves
I feel the warmth of May arrive;
My falls now softened by the grass
At last, my heart feels quite alive.
Through growing pains I’ve come at last
To feel the peace and joy of spring;
And since the bitter storm clouds passed,
With blissful birds my heart now sings.
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April Showers
This season brings back memories—
Some painful, others filled with joy;
With retrospection, now I see
The hand of God at work in this.
The joy came first to plant the seeds
Before the dark and bitter rains;
But when the sun shines through the rain,
A rainbow forms, God’s promise kept.
The rain gave water to the seeds
And helped them grow and blossom now.
Without the rain, no flowers grow;
The rain helped make God’s plan unfold.
So now I let these memories
Wash over me and fill my heart
With gratitude for joy and pain,
And hope for what God’s plan will bring.
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Chantal LaFortune writes for Missio Dei and is an undergraduate student at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, in Connecticut.
Thanks for these poems. While there are things in them I would have done differently, still, your careful attention to nature and its relation to human emotion seem to negate them. Please continue writing; you have a beautiful spirit.
“The Photograph” is a touching tribute to military couples who had to say their final goodbye with an uncertain future facing them. Your empathy comes through. “Spring Growth” reminds me of my childhood years on a farm in the northern Midwest until the age of 13, when finally, I could “feel the warmth of May arrive.” I enjoyed the first two poems. I know you had the capability of excellent rhyming, but I missed that in the last poem. The sense flows well enough, but I missed the rhyme in a classical poem. It may be just me, so pardon my own feelings.
Each poem a gem I will treasure the rhyme scheme the metre but most all the touching meaning that comes through each.
These 3 poems are lovely and sincere
Each of these poems are so beautiful!! A joy to read!
They all touched my heart and brought back memories! Thank you!