Evening Sonata

As the long winds of evening come,
the dove purrs herself to sleep in the barn.
In fading light the hawk spreads her wings,
catching more wind, more wind.
Her breath takes her higher, a wider flight,
big as night, old as dreams.
Seems every night, thunder plays with wind on the horizon:
orange, yellow, surprising shapes!
In the long winds of evening,
whispery wands of dandelion seed hold just a little longer,
on the edge of their big drift.
The sun mixes gray and green with night 
on this edge of the earth.
A blue paler and paler, and a lustrous streak of white,
the mountain “sundown”.
A play of sound like Brahms, rhapsodic, contrapuntal,
the changing paths of wind.
Voices cross the hills every which way,
searching for their dreams,  already going deeper,
drifting off into night.

Annelinde Metzner
Catskill Farm
July 16, 1995

New to the World

My great-niece, Ivy Mae, a few hours old

“What do you bring us?” ask the villagers,
to the babe still in the womb,
coming from afar, from the world of spirit.
“What does your soul wish for here?”
In Mama’s womb, all at peace,
the little one, new to the world,
sleeps with one foot in Spirit.
“I will remember” swears the Spirit,
though much will come of the world,
so many inviting paths to ponder.
“I bring you the light of the stars”,
says the little one,
“to warm your winter nights,
and to cradle your days with love.”


Annelinde Metzner
August 29,  2010




I'm thrilled by the birth of Ivy Mae Metzner Benjamin, my great-niece, to Emily Metzner and husband Jaron Benjamin on August 9th, 2015.   Welcome to our world and our family!

Jaron and Ivy Mae

Emily and Ivy Mae

Roller Rink

Kendall and Steve's pond

Elbows out, hunkered down,
the blue dasher dragonflies spin across the pond,
on rollerskates, an inch above the water!
“Hey, you guys, look at this!”
they yell back and forth to each other,
showing off, dodging their brothers and sisters,
speeding across the pond in magnificent synchrony.
Now and then, a water bug
scoots upon the surface, making arrow-shaped ripples.
Tadpoles watch, disinterested, from the shallows,
unaware of the metamorphosis awaiting them up ahead.
The big whitetailed dragonflies float above it all,
grand and elegant, at their own slow pace.
The airborne roller rink is a bright blue shout of “fun!”
Toss yourself into the fray,
go for the speed, and just go!

Annelinde Metzner
Kendall and Steve’s pond,
Fairview, North Carolina

Pond through the trees

Path to the pond