‘Cemetery’ and Other Poetry by Paul Buchheit

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Cemetery

The grasses, flowing amber on the breeze
that speaks to me in verses intimate,
are stilled, as if contented to appease
my meditative spirit, to permit
obeisance from afar to monuments
of lifeless stone. Shall not eternity
be brashly coveting my every sense
in moments soon to come? My destiny
awaits beneath these fronds, their silhouettes
like countless sentinels whose fealty
is pledged to passing souls who stir regrets
amidst retreating autumn verdancy,
where warmth and succor from the morning mist
are of a sudden never to exist.

First published in The Lyric, Summer 2021

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Winter Moment  

The silent flakes of snow, like dainty white
and flitting whimsies in a frenzied quest
to join as one, unerringly alight
upon my path, as if at my behest.
The odor, sweet, of burning maple curls
through thickened flurry walls; a wolflike whine
betrays the gale arising as it swirls
and bullies through the tips of stubborn pine.
The cabin beckons me; a dullish light
prepares me for a welcome interlude
of warmth and sustenance, an age-old rite,
an intercourse of fire and solitude.
The wintry pomp and bluster need not cease,
for in my womblike refuge I’m at peace.

First published in The Lyric, Winter 2022

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Paul Buchheit is an author of books, poems, essays, and scientific journal articles. He recently completed his first historical novel, 1871: Rivers on Fire.  His poetry has appeared in The Lyric, Illinois State Poetry Society, Poets & Patrons of Chicagoland, Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest, Society of Classical Poets, and other publications.