Eyes peer out

As tears ride slowly

On worry lines.

Rain slides over

Sun-streaked windowpanes

Plays marimba on clay roof tiles.

Guardian trees encircle the land

Waters course down peeled skin trunks

Rivulets surround the house.

Fallen drops give birth to rills

Join others

Become charcos, small puddles.

Twigs and boughs

Swing up, swing down

Flexible youthful limbs.

Bordering the front porch

Expectant azaleas—buds ready to bloom

Await the birth of red, white, and fuchsia blossoms.

Survivor roots seek interstices

Grow green

Buckling concrete.

Where last the snowflakes melt

Snowdrops sprout

Dance a happy jig.

Melva C. Lewis is a poet whose work grew out of a transformative moment in 2020, when she joined a poetry workshop on Zoom and discovered a creative voice she hadn’t known she possessed. What began as an attempt to reshape old essays into poems soon became a deeper calling—one that led her to write fresh, original work that “felt right,” as she describes it. Encouraged by workshop members, friends, and family, Lewis found her doubts falling away as writing became a daily source of energy, joy, and self‑discovery. Her poetry reflects this awakening, celebrating the treasures, wonders, and emotional clarity uncovered through the act of creation.