

too much coffee, too little sleep, a love of words…
In this threadbare landscape
where patchwork fields
stretch to the horizon,
a red barn slouches—
weathered and worn
through all the long days,
paint flaking under the sun.
Surrounded by wheat husks,
each stalk croaking secrets,
forgotten, a scarecrow slumps—
guardian of a dead land.
Tattered garments hang limp, button
eyes gaze sightless. Last sentinel
against encroaching shadows.
And still, there is beauty here.
Where barn, field, and scarecrow
converge, where eagles cry
on the wind—a tale of courage
and heartbreak. A tale
of life’s simple grace.
Ryan Stone

– after Longfellow
The wind whispers, the wind sighs,
the dawn light brightens, a magpie cries;
amongst the gum trees tall and green
a girl becomes a faerie queen.
And the wind whispers, the wind sighs.
Morning settles beneath silk skies,
her reign flits by like dragonflies;
deep shadows dress the naked hill
in dusk, as faerie wings fall still.
And the wind whispers, the wind sighs.
Night throws a cloak; a barn owl cries,
another answers, stars blink like eyes.
The queen is gone, won’t come again;
these woods forever will remain.
And the wind whispers, the wind sighs.
– Ryan Stone
first published at Poetry Nook, May 2020

jasmine
frolicking on a breeze
– first kiss
Ryan Stone

midnight wind,
howling through the caverns
of my mind
Ryan Stone

in the Wheatbelt
sharp grain ears listen…
wind-song
Ryan Stone
