Beverly Watkins 

Kansas City, MO, USA

  
 
 

My career has involved my family (a husband and three sons) with a lifetime of teaching history and government. Writing has taken many forms--essays, grant writings, history. Over the years I have written many commemorative verses for persons celebrating special occasions. After retiring from teaching, I could devote more time to writing and to volunteer work. To further my poetry-writing interest and enthusiasm, I have read volumes of poets' works, past and present. I hope to give credit to the ones who have taught us so much.
 

The Tree, A Biography

Keep a watch
on the life
of a tree.
It's a biography
of a life
filled with purpose.

Green as it grows,
blooms if it must,
droops with some winds,
then drops
from fatigue.

All in a season.

Search For Rhyme

There's no escaping
the rhythm
of rhyme.
How did we lose it
over time?

Did we skip a beat
or tap
a drum
that helped us cheat
the meter
we all seek?

Still if it pounds
a heartbeat
away,
that's a sign
of rhyme
in the mind.

In The Mind

Ideas grow
in the mind.
Dipping,
swimming
and wallowing
like an ocean's surf.

Keep one
if it curtsies
or is polite.
But if like the tide,
it comes a'swishing
it's a thought!
Let it in.

It may be
colored
only in black.
But vision distills it
and meaning 
creeps in 
and color 
will win.
Begin!

Thus comes 
a reflection,
a purpose,
a treasure
to mirror
and keep.
All poems Copyright © 1998 Beverly Watkins. All rights reserved.