by Michael Shoemaker
Directly overhead
never ending white blueness.
Next, a puff of cloud,
the one you watch
while laying on your back
— it holds your dreams
aloft and afar.
Below a slate ruler
of wind-whipped cirrus clouds
hanging above the last of the snowcapped peaks,
a tumbling mountain and foothills,
fall flat to the valley floor.
Yellow, green, brown, yellow again,
quilted squares of farmers’ fields,
holding potential energy,
waiting for the release of colossal growth.
In the foreground
apple and pear tree blossoming, I hear
the call, then a sudden flutter of osprey wings,
there’s green grass worn to dirt at the volleyball net,
a pink explosion of a plum tree,
a home for holiness,
a place for saints,
a prayer for peace.
© Michael Shoemaker
Michael Shoemaker is a poet, photographer and writer from Magna, Utah where he lives with his wife and son and enjoys looking out on the Great Salt Lake every day. He is the author of a poetry/photography collection Rocky Mountain Reflections and Grasshoppers in the Field. His poetry has appeared in Blue Lake Review, The High Window, Seashores Haiku Journal and The Penwood Review and his haiku recently appeared in the anthology Petals of Haiku which is a #1 Amazon bestseller release. Michael has been awarded a grant by the Utah Division of Arts and Museums for his poetry and nominated for the Best of the Net anthology in 2025. He is an Associate Editor at Fireflies’ Light: A Journal of Short Poetry. You can find out more at poetschoice.in/publisher/michael-shoemaker/.
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