Tender Glow

1. Two Moods

(a flowing, story‑like poem that holds both moods in one arc)

I walk into the field because the orchids call me first—
orange and pink, creamy white, purple‑brown,
their colors rising like a soft chorus.
Each petal, regular or not, feels deliberate,
a small architecture of peace.
I lean closer, tracing the gradients,
the pale yellow throats, the deep green stems
that lift into the lighter grass behind them.
For a moment, I am nowhere else.
The world loosens its hold.

But the mountains hold a different truth.
Above them, the sky thickens—
clouds moving in heavy strokes,
closing the sun with a painter’s hand.
The light dims, the air tightens,
and something in me tightens with it.
The calm I found in the orchids
begins to tremble at the edges.

I stand between these two moods—
the field offering release,
the sky gathering its warning.
The flowers ask me to stay;
the clouds insist I return.
And I feel myself pulled
by both the peace I want
and the world that waits.

2.Two Moods

(a Rondeau style poem)

The orchids open into quiet light,
their colors softening the edge of sight,
orange, pink, and creamy white unfold,
deep green stems rising from the cold
earth, easing thought into quiet light.

But mountains darken, shifting day to night;
clouds gather thick, impasto‑tight,
closing the sun with a heavy gesture—bold.
The orchids open into quiet light.

Two moods divide the frame: one warm, one cool.
The field invites me to stay in its delight,
while the sky insists its warning must be told,
its shadow pushing hard and uncontrolled.
I stand between them, held in their fight—
the orchids open into quiet light.