Category Poetry

Goldenrod

Kate Wolfe 7 Comments 
sneaking in behind
swath ornamental grass
tall green stalks
invaded edge of backyard
I saw them growing
thought them a weed, unknown
needing pulling
but I put off entering
chiggerland
told myself
after a killing freeze
I’d deal with them

then yellow flowers bloomed
bees and butterflies supped
and I pondered—
what if I’d yanked them
when they first had
the audacity to invade
I wouldn’t have witnessed
this sunny show

I have been the weed
I have been the goldenrod
torn from what anchored me
tossed aside
like so much garbage
before I had the chance
to flower
and adding to the sadness
of it all
the killing was often wrought
by my own
foolish hand

©2026 Kate Wolfe

Drawing is my own using micro pens and watercolor. Second image is my own photo of goldenrod free-ranging into my ornamental grass. (Posted on a previous blog.)

Wednesday’s Child

Kate Wolfe 10 Comments 
I was not born to be happy…

no bright star shone down on me
when I was dropped headfirst into the world
red-faced, kicking, and screaming
and placed in my mother’s arms—
the only true home I’ve ever known

instead, a dark star witnessed my birth
stepped out of hell’s black hole
took me in its cold bony hands
and christened me “Wednesday’s Child”
damning me to a life of woe

not for me fair of face or full of grace
a clumsy witch with frizzy red hair
who mounts her broom
and beneath an a ghostly moon
runs wild with the night

night understands, night knows
what beats inside my heart
what tangles and twists my soul
it doesn’t question, doesn’t judge
night is my beloved familiar

there’s a certain comfort in failure
a happiness inside misery
a pleasure in absent feelings
for a Wednesday’s Child
who has serenely accepted her fate

for…
I was not born to be happy

©2026 Kate Wolfe

Both poem and monochromantic watercolor are several years old. The poem is one of my favorites of the many I have written, and I think the watercolr painting pairs well with it.

Come Dance With Me

Kate Wolfe 8 Comments 
come dance with me, my love, I care not where
on a sandy beach, our steps we shall share
while the sun is high, we waltz, hot and slow
as our thoughts take on a sensual glow
and we dream of night, our bodies laid bare

take my hand, lead me to a field so fair
where we glide with daisies, without a care
as rain patters down, and the sun sinks low
come dance with me...

hold me tightly in the crisp mountain air
as dusk gives way to night, without a prayer
our bodies sway ‘neath the moon’s argent glow 
and we come together, a liquid flow
with stars in our eyes, one more time, mon cher,
come dance with me...

©2026 Kate Wolfe

Featured image is my own photo.

Free Fall

Kate Wolfe 4 Comments 
The waterfall looms ahead,
no way she can steer around.
It lays before her,
horizon to horizon wide.

Like a cow going to slaughter,
she knows she can’t escape what’s to come.
She’s poked and prodded from behind,
not allowed to turn back.

Scalding voices splash her stern,
eating away what’s good in her wake,
as it pushes her forward into the future.
Faster and faster, then…free fall.

The angry knots in her stomach untangle
as she leaves despair behind,
plunging into the unknown waters of tomorrow
where she never will be found.

©2023 and 2026 Kate Wolfe

Featured image via Pixabay.