1 Poem by Mary Jo Balistreri

A Changing Gift

Another October morning, still,
quiet and cold. I walk with the tingling air
to pond’s edge where sun already huddles
near glacier-aged limestone, and water
basks in pink-tinted clouds. I listen
to this language of another time, spoken

in color and light, tone and temperature.
Beside me, tattered green weeds sway in tall
elegance, their crocheted dresses beautiful
but too thin and summery for this brisk day.
On the far shore, trees don maple-red,
and birch-gold, a grand send-off for this sun

that leaves soon for other shores.
The splendor of one form slides into another,
as fire and water, air and earth seed nature’s
ongoing creation. Although the falling leaves
feel like loss, I am reminded of harvest. I look
at the sun-filled pumpkin, a fallen pecan,
and think of Thanksgiving. A burgundy leaf drifts
into my lap, nudges me to move on.


Bionote

Mary Jo Balistreri is the author of Joy in the Morning,2008, and Gathering the Harvest, 2012 published by Bellowing Ark Press Her chapbook, Best Brothers, is due out in July, 2013 by Tiger’s Eye Press.

She is one of the founding members of “Grace River Poets,” an outreach program of poetry for women’s shelters, churches, and schools. Her poems have appeared in MOBIUS, The Healing Muse, Passager, Tiger’s Eye Press, Ruminate, Avocet, Verse Wisconsin, Quill and Parchment, Crab Creek Review and others. She recently placed first for essay in the Wisconsin Writers Jade Ring Contest, and has placed first for the Jade Ring in poetry. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Nominations.