Ophelia by Barbara Leonhard

 

Mike Bird

Ophelia

There is a willow that grows aslant a brook…

-Shakespeare, Hamlet

When the old willow weeps, 

her shoulders bend to the sun, 

her ancient songs resound

in tune with us

Her light binds us to her limbs

Her learning and duty, her strength

to stand firm as we battle

Her skirt, a shelter to our fallen 

In her tears, no regrets

Our grief and despair seek solace

in this humble Sallow

We bow to her

in gratitude.

This poem appeared in Rough-Cut Elegies. It received a 2025 Pushcart nomination.

© Barbara Harris Leonhard

Enjoy more posts by Barbara Harris Leonhard HERE.

Barbara Harris Leonhard

Barbara Harris Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is the co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year more than once. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and FEED THE HOLY. Her blog is Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver. 

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Ode to a Yard by Barbara Leonhard

Photo © Barbara Leonhard

Ode to a Yard

The backyard, now a room.

The teeming branches

of the pin oak, red bud,

and elm stretch into a canopy.

We leave part of the lawn alone

to sow a meadow. Violets, clover,

dandelions. Tall patches of native grass

go to seed. Periwinkle blushes

on the yard’s borders.

Gardening tools laze about

atop a disheveled log.

The garden soil, dry, still not tilled.

The metal spikes that held last year’s tomatoes linger,

supporting withered stalks.

Clustering around the far edge,

a thick crop of never-fail oregano.

Elsewhere, batches of volunteer kale

surprise us.

On the garden's edge, a hose lies coiled

ready to strike.

Inside on a counter, seed packets sit

waiting for soil and sun.

© Barbara Harris Leonhard

Enjoy more posts by Barbara Harris Leonhard HERE.

Barbara Harris Leonhard

Barbara Harris Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is the co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year more than once. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and FEED THE HOLY. Her blog is Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver. 

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That Crazy Old Lady by Barbara Leonhard

© Barbara Leonhard

That Crazy Old Lady

still has her Christmas tree up!

Indeed! Been three years now.

The LED lights haven’t failed to sparkle

at passersby walking their dogs

and children playing in the park.

The few music students continuing

since COVID struck

blink several times

as they arrive weekly for lessons

to see the tree still waiting

for more Bluegrass tunes.

The bluebird pecking

at the picture window each spring -

Does it want to nest

in the tree’s brilliant branches

alongside the crystalline angels

and shimmering orbs

on artificial branches?

My tree, fake news? Hardly.

As my gaze rests there,

I’m spared headlines of disease,

mass shootings, bombs marked

“For the Children”, the inflictions

of ‘isms’, the forays of fear.

My Christmas tree,

determined to stand

until kindness and forgiveness

light up this world again.

This poem appeared in Paddler Press’ volume “Grace Notes”.

© Barbara Harris Leonhard

Enjoy more posts by Barbara Harris Leonhard HERE.

Barbara Harris Leonhard

Barbara Harris Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is the co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year more than once. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and FEED THE HOLY. Her blog is Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver. 

Follow Feed the Holy