Hedy Habra – Inevitable Changes

Habra LE P&W 4 Nov-Dec 2024

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Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Four November-December 2024

Inevitable Changes, poems by Hedy Habra.


Inevitable Changes

After the latest storm,
droopy rhododendrons sigh,
and dead branches
litter the grass.

In the backyard, an old
uprooted willow
lies in its last pose, its majestic,
unearthed root
reveals torn, shriveled
underground
threads like a disheveled
underworld
creature. The once erect
trunk bends over
the creek, bridging the brook
with thick ink
strokes.

A closer look shows
branches heavy with green
feather-veined leaves,
perhaps a shelter
welcoming new nests.


Flowing Current

A field of wheat flattened by the wind,
bears autumnal hues.
A little farther down the creek, algae
glaucous strands glimmer
on the surface reminiscent of a drowned
witch or a suicide’s
loosened hair wavering in sinuous ripples.
So much life hidden
beneath its strands undulating
in the flowing current.
A butterfly, resting over withered
Queen Ann’s lace
blossoms, tells us how
ephemeral summer is.


The White Roses

I kept a couple of white roses
in a small onyx vase
for decades
after my mother died.
They came from
the cascading
white blossoms covering her
coffin that day in Montreal
till the right time came
to do away with them.
I look at my bookshelves
surprised they’re no longer there.


© Hedy Habra

Hedy Habra is a poet, artist, and essayist. She has authored four poetry collections, most recently, Or Did You Ever See The Other Side? (Press 53 2023), winner of the International Poetry Book Awards, and a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Awards; The Taste of the Earth, winner of the Silver Nautilus Book Award and Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. Tea in Heliopolis won the Best Book Award and Under Brushstrokes was a finalist for the International Book Award. Her story collection, Flying Carpets, won the Arab American Book Award’s Honorable Mention and was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. Her book of criticism is Mundos alternos y artísticos en Vargas Llosa. A twenty-two-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and recipient of the Nazim Hikmet Award, her multilingual work appears in numerous journals and anthologies.

https://www.hedyhabra.com/

One Reply to “Hedy Habra – Inevitable Changes”

  1. Love these poems, Hedy. Beautiful, interesting images and heartfelt sentiments. Compelling.

    I learn to improve my own writing by studying other writers’ pieces. Your poetry has taught me so much.

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