Poems inspired by the artwork of Catrin Welz-Stein , a German artist who lives in Zürich
Rock a Bye Baby in the Treetop
oh look!
the fingernail moon
is hanging in the treetop
let’s climb up
and sit next to her
swinging our legs
and singing at the top of our lungs
to drown out the chorus of crickets
then you, in your best apron,
and me, with my patch pockets,
will gather the sharp pointed stars
and string them together
with red yarn and spiders silk
to wrap around us
as we sleep in the fragrant cedar boughs
wreathed in the Milky Way
and spangled with stars
I’ll Fly Away, O Glory, I’ll Fly Away
her first inkling
was her scalp tingling
as her hair rose
as if blown in a soft breeze
it became more apparent
that something was amiss
when her hair would stand on end
as if in a gust of wind
she braided it tight
in six stout braids
wrapping them around her head
in a crown
but they would shake loose
to rise skyward
on their own accord
then, one day,
she felt
gravity give way
just a touch
loosening her heels
and losing her shoes
she dug her toes
into the dirt
holding tight to the roots of the trees
but the day came
when the inevitable was upon her
when even he could not hold her to the earth
her face set resolutely
to whatever was ahead
skyward
she
rose
The Course of Our Seasons 
Hi. I like the Rock a Bye Baby poem best. I think the highlight of the poem is the detail, the pockets and the apron… Jane
Elegant use of the “rose” she is holding in the “rose” of the 2nd poem. I wrote to that pic and the state of her hair too…
Both are very nice but I really loved that you brought to life the idea she was floating away and the bear was holding on to her. Very imaginative.
love the whimsy of both pieces 🙂 fun!!
Love the girl it he second poem. I felt her levitation!
Both poems are lovely, love tying the stars together with red yarn and spiders silk…some nice imagery indeed!
Both great. I had never thought about the perspective of the second poem. The bear holding her to earth, very original!
Beautiful interpretations, Kathleen. I hope you are well!
The first one, so delightful to read ~
The second one, so sad on the ending though ~ I like the hair details, giving way to gravity & up she flew away ~
Both are really good ~
Oh, I really like the “I’ll Fly Away” poem, the clues that it was time, and then the lift off to the sky. Really dreamlike in a beautiful way.
I really like both of these…climbing up to sit next to the fingernail moon…love it!
To sit in the tops of the treeswith that moon…sounds so nice.. and the sorrow of escaping.. I could feel the bear straining to keep her down… great two poems.
nice…both of these are really cool…i rather like the second…have you seen upside down? made me think of that a bit…what an interesting movie…i am glad she has the strength to face whatever may come…
how cool… her hair knew it earlier than she what her destiny would be…rising skyward..nice.. i like the little details as well with her first fighting it but then facing bravely what lies ahead…cool
swinging legs…singing on the top of lungs and wearing an APRON…how cool is this…. ha…off to read no. 2