Mabel E. Franklin 

Kingsport, Tennessee 

Mabel has been writing poetry since the age of 15. She loves nature, reading and writing poetry. She says, "My greatest love is my dog, Duke, and my cat, Shorty." She is a Distinguished Member of The International Society of Poets. Her poetry has been published in five books by The National Library of Poetry. She also has poems on two albums of The Sound of Poetry by The National Library of Poetry. In addition to this, Mabel has earned five Editor's Choice Awards (from NLP). She plans to continue publishing her poetry in the future. 

Restless Heart

Oh, unthankful heart of mine
Why can you not be glad
With  the treasures you are filled
Why do you beat so sad

Be calm and ponder
My, wondering restless one
Remember after the storm
There will always be the sun

Deceitful empty shell you are
Closed with darkness and cold
Just lift your shad a tiny bit
Then the light will show.

The Tomb

One day as I was walking
down a lonely lane
I came upon a grassey knoll
beside it was a gorgeous spring

I stopped, I stared
I just couldn't believe
This work of art
Mother Nature had conceived

It's shape was very deep and oval
Lying just below a massy mound
with huge willow trees
growing completely all around

As if to keep it hidden
And protect it's purity
Their long slender branches
entwined into a canopy

The colors from the light
That filtered through the trees
Were that of a thousand rainbows
And magnificent to see

As I stood there I suddenly realized
With awesome clarity
This was not meant for every one
And I sensed it beckon to me

Slowly I walked toward it
The silence was profound
I stepped out of my garments
Letting them fall upon the ground

I wrapped myself into the water
As an embryo in a womb
I knew I would never leave it's rapture
For this would be my tomb