The 4 Seasons

By Debra Milligan

Several years ago, the author had a dream in vivid colors. She was gazing from the upstairs back porch of her childhood house, across the 4 back yards of the neighbors’ houses. Each yard was one of the 4 seasons.

Dreams can be fertile! From that single dream of seasons and colors these poems came to fruition for Debra Milligan. Art is upheaval and then solace and then repose. The 4 Seasons reflect that never-ending process. These four volumes of poems are the written images of the visual and auditory memories set into motion by that dream. The volumes are:

Winter Trees:

These 10 poems offer solace and serenity in the midst of winter, ostensibly the coldest time of the year. The themes include the lonely heartache that only love can soothe; the gift of love in the midst of the barren cold; meditation; personal growth; the warmth of memory; reclaiming your heart from the heartless encounter.

Suddenly Spring:

One warm day in February 2016, it was suddenly spring. The author was out for a walk in the country and she felt the blossoming of this poetry. Two days and 12 poems later, Debra Milligan reached the right tones for her poetic sounds: beauty, harmony, girlhood, remembrance, love, fury, forgiveness, renewal, the soaring freedom of reverie.

Song of Summer:

Like a melody within memories, the song of summer captures time in many ways. These 9 poems evoke the eternal within the ephemeral; they sing with images about passion, the contented life, the colors of summer desire, children, lessons of betrayal, the silent vow of true love, the flowering of creativity.

Autumn Leaves

A season for retrospection and remembrance, autumn can also yield the harvest of delight and dreams of wonderment for the future. These 12 poems speak of the warm embrace of autumn, memory and longing, letting go with love and holding on with fear, the education of the female heart, the prospect of art and the promise of life, faithful love. This volume of poetry reflects upon the past but also radiates with hope for the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Debra Milligan
• Release date: Jun 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310998935

Debra Milligan

Debra Milligan is a novelist, essayist, poet, and short story writer. She is fluent in French and has varied interests in the fine arts, architecture, history of all kinds, music, horses, hounds, the Golden Age of Hollywood, quilting, fashion, and gardening.

Book preview

to Eugene

for whom

my natural sense of design

was more than a dream

~~~~****~~~~

Winter Trees

1. Serenity

I no longer feel your absence from my side

There are no feelings I need to hide

There is only the sense

of serenity

as if you were never

away from me

and all of the years

when I sought your face

have been replaced

by the time you sought

my love

the brightest star

for us to trust

in the twinkling

of an eye

The serenity

You and I

knew from the

first

would always

be our joy

unrehearsed

and with each tear

that I have shed

there is a feeling

that we wed

with this forever

solemn vow:

The answer

to each flower

blooming

wild

every hour

is to wait

for the serenity

of your eyes

embracing

me.

17 January 2016

~~~~****~~~~

2. Winter Trees

The trees of January

were like a quarry

black and empty

nightly starry

while I stood and watched

the sky

blue and dark

I knew not why

The trees of winter

had to die

before they could

fill the sky

with leaves of green

and misty blue

I grieved alone

before you knew

I’d run away

from your eyes

and chase the day

with haunted lies

from the smile

you kept just for me:

it was a sin

for all to see

and yet I saw only

your love

a fatal flaw

that came to call

once a month

when the moon was full

when winter trees

were cold and still.

I see them now

with clarity

I feel them now

with purity

I touch them

in my memory

and place my finger

on each vein

of cursed pain

you called your own;

I trace each scar

and heal the tone

of anguish

that your smile

cried

because I knew

that you and I

were winter trees

against the sky

blue and dark

that told me why

the Spirit gives

the Spirit takes

only the human heart

can forsake

the love meant to last

forever,

and so it was in

fevered weather

that you erased

the trees of winter

and I replaced

them with a sister

who soothed

every bitter tear

until we could share

the winter trees

and lovingly

trace with ease

the leaves

only the heart

can see.

17 January 2016

~~~~****~~~~

3. Blackbirds

The blackbirds

felt my full regret

they sang a song

I’ll ne’er forget

of love that came

before its time

of poetry

that could not rhyme.

They flew above me

tauntingly

and knew their sounds

hauntingly

would penetrate

that dark night

echoing

throughout my life.

I tried to find a place

for them

a nest somewhere

a calm amen,

but blackbirds

fly in face of fear

and defy

solemn prayer.

The winter trees

held them for a while

till spring appeared

and the birds acquired

the guise of sense

the camouflage

of prudence

but I knew better

than to trust