January Reunion by Laura Margosian
Love child
gatekeeper of years
portal to winter season
arriving from great travels around the sun
aligning all living species
with a steady drum beat call
to set our tables and intentions
to receive you
As festivities meet midnight
an arresting hush permeates over all
some escape your descent
the clutch of your dark night
washed-out days, wrung to dry
as your raw temperament withholds nothing
Others are faithful hosts
leaning into the moon
stoking the fire girth
blistering beet roots
with red stained fingers
cracking pomegranates
tending pots of humming stew
preparing for your keep
while you prepare for ours
Your newborn light is kind
emerging from perpetual night
illuminating a new way
a charm all your own
softly bathing dormant pastures
blanketing sleeping seeds
beckoning an invitation
You wink at the rhododendron
buds bound and erect
in the wake of your rousing storms
perched from waning bushes
like bulbs in chandeliers
standing-by for glints of springtime
to hatch their brightly colored pompoms
Your naked branches are proud
from months of shedding layers
revealing etched entangled arms
sheltering roosting winged-ones
in stillness, we can see
twiggy fingers offering ancient prayers
like skeletons fanning periwinkle skies
sweeping limbs from rooted frames
languid moments, before all to come
Your honesty
drowns the haste
from those that came before
as our minds settle like sandy-shores
creating space for curiosity
and stillness, so we can see
loyal ghosts that live among us
are making peace
and stories yet to dream
like churning bolts of august waves
drools of sea between our toes
briny broth simmering in shells
the high-noon swell of sky and sea
infuse into tomorrow’s horizon
Your days are reassuring
stretching slightly longer
like our spines as we expand
within the walls that hold us
swallowing yearning seeds
germinating in dusk magenta wisps like henna-stain
across the sky
in stillness, we believe
your wind’s hallowing cry,
“New Year”
Beneath the cloak of your nesting womb
a billion possibilities lie within anticipation of
all you are
and all you are
becoming
Laura Margosian began writing poetry as a child where she could be found rock climbing and roaming the woods and sea shores of the northeast, Martha’s Vineyard, and Cape Breton island. She is a certified yoga instructor, student of qigong and holistic health as raised by a pioneering mother in the field. Her professional career has included enriching the academic, social, and emotional lives of young people. She holds a bachelor’s of liberal arts in Cultural Anthropology from Antioch College and is passionate about nature therapy, forest bathing, culinary anthropology, and curating culturally inspired feasts for friends. Her poetry has appeared in various publications and she received the Armenian Allied Arts Association award. Laura writes with lush lyricism informed by the natural world and seasons on themes of the heart, longing, mindfulness, and identity.
Laura will be sharing virtual mindful movement classes this spring inspired by nature. As it evolves you can learn more here: www.instagram.com/nourish.with.laura and continue to follow her poetry, nature photography, food, and cooking journey.
Photos by Laura Margosian
