from cracks in jutting rock
bloodroot has begun
roots that bleed when torn
push heart shapes
of coiled leaves
through cold soil
leaves that hold
a fragile secret
white and gold blossom
so pure it terrifies

will I bloom another season
from rock and rich
decay of a million moments
detritus of dead loves dead fears
of waning life
can I stretch my heart's shape
out greening open
the pure white and gold
of dangerous hope

About Bloodroot—In old age now, I am primarily dealing with the subjects of connection to the landscape, home, aging, and death in poems, paintings, small installations…and life.

I hold a bowl
here in my hands
simple rough earthen
to be filled with
bright word kernels
slow honey flow
of music

poems to feed
my hungry soul
a bowl to hold out
to the source
of all poems always
I am begging
I am offering

Lynn McLure is a poet, painter, and sheep farmer in Yancey County, North Carolina. She has published poetry in The Great Smokies Review, Asheville Poetry Review, WNC Woman, Pinesongs, Frog Pond, and Ribbons, a Tanka publication. One of her linked haiku sequences appears as the example of that form in the handbook, Haiku and Senryu, by Charlotte Digregorio and she has won national prizes for haiku and haibun. She conducts a workshop on Haiku and Aging, which combines poetry with photography and painting. She periodically holds poetry retreats at her farm.