Pirates In The Orchard

Milkweed drifts
on honeyed breezes.

Silken nets
breathe
with the wind.

Glistening webs
stretch
between cherry branches.
Eggless nests
cling
to her limbs.
She is home
to spiders
and climbing boys.
Boys who tasted
her sour and sweet
and dreamed her
a pirate ship
sailing
in blue waters-

far from orchard

or bathtub.
High summer games
will soon
go the way
of picked cherries.
There are oceans
to navigate

and treasure
to plunder

before her leaves
yield 
to crisp
school book pages.
Eager branches
lift and
embrace
the sweaty men
of tomorrow
who will remain
pirates with
a taste
for cherries
past this boyhood
summer.
The sun
burns away

cool autumn's 
momentary threat
leaving boys
and spiders
to sail and spin
in peace.

From Pirates In The Orchard

-Kat Cavanaugh LaMantia

The New Year approaches. I have several friends and family who have seen 80+ New Years come and go. Who have seen the world "spin" one way and then reverse itself and spin another way.

All of them enjoy one thing in common, a fresh faced, young soul that lives inside of them in spite of those years. A hopeful, optimistic child heart that remembers trees long past but yet looks forward to cherry trees unclimbed and inviting, "Come up!"

You all inspire me. 
 
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you’re always young in His presence.

God makes everything come out right..Psalm 103 (The Message)

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Photo by Dennis Adams