Author Archives: brontebrown2

Rhonda Bronte Brown is a National Board-Certified Teacher and retired teacher/counselor whose work has appeared in Better Than Starbucks, The Trouvaille Review, Meat for Tea, The Orchards Poetry Journal and The Best Haiku 2025 international anthology and several online journals. She holds both a BS and a Master’s degree and writes children’s literature and poetry exploring nature, SEL, and STEM.

Spring Sings! By RL Brown

Spring Fling Contest 2022/ revised for another submission

    Winter howls at Spring like a middle schooler's biological clock clanks.      
 "It's too early," Winter yawns. 
"Autumn has arrived in the southern hemisphere," says Spring.          
"Not yet." Winter flops back, adding another blanket of snow.        
"The Cold Moon will be full soon," says Spring, offering Winter an enticement. 
Spring knows Winter loves to hang out with Cold Moon on the longest night of the inverted season.        
 "Okay, I'm up." Winter sits very still, blowing another chilly breeze.      
"Come along," says Blizzard. Winter stands and stretches.      
"I see you've been at work. It's a resplendent day in pastel hues," Winter says to Spring. 
"Thank you, Winter."  Winter bows, whispering, "See you next year." 
Spring smiles, turning to the Sun, "It's time to melt the crusty earth and direct your rays to tickle the fertile dirt."      
"As you wish," replies Sun. 
Zephyr carries the seeds. 
Loam provides for their needs. 
Clouds water fertile dirt. 
Bouquets rise from the Earth.
https://giphy.com/gifs/flower-rain-spring-QunbrgyjvLJblE8OcM

11 responses to “Spring Sings! By RL Brown”

  1. My Life in Our Father's World Avatar
    My Life in Our Father’s World

    Fun poem

    Like

    Reply
  2. katiefischerwrites Avatar
    katiefischerwrites

    I like how you had winter and spring talking with each other, it’s so true how it feels like it flip flops between the two in early spring.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Molly Ippolito Avatar
    Molly Ippolito

    So different and unique! Good luck to you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. brontebrown2 Avatar
    brontebrown2

    Thank you, and good luck to you also!

    Like

    Reply
  5. kathalsey Avatar
    kathalsey

    A word dance as per your usual poetic work, Very original POV.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. brontebrown2 Avatar
      brontebrown2

      Thanks for the encouragement-

      Like

      Reply
  6. brontebrown2 Avatar
    brontebrown2

    Thank you

    Like

    Reply
  7. seschipper Avatar
    seschipper

    Nice job! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. Deborah Williams Avatar
    Deborah Williams

    Fun way to show the transition of the seasons! Great job!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. chardixon47 Avatar
    chardixon47

    Love the personification of the two seasons. So poetic and playful! Well done!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. March Poems 2025 | brontebrown2 Avatar
    March Poems 2025 | brontebrown2

    […] Spring Sings! By RL Brown […]

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The Hummingbird

Trouvaille Review, March 23, 2022 Publication 

The Hummingbird

Swiftest things that run the world,
Hums and beats, their wings unfurled.
Hummingbirds need constant fuel.
Brilliant blooms attract this jewel.
Forward, backward, upside down.
These dashing (feisty) fliers zip around.
 
Golden flowers brilliant blooms
Entice birds with shiny plumes.
Blazing Star to Geranium,
Coral Bells to Delphinium.
Flower meadows, patchwork plots,
Scattered seeds in local lots.

Ode to Childhood

Hopscotch with seas shells 
and whirlybirds in the air,
singing weeee and swinging high
swing high, flying free, 
landing barfoot in the grass

Cousins taking turns
Counting to one hundred
hands in sync, 
switching without missing a beat
the ice cream maker's hand-crank 
keeps churing.  

Walking with cousins
Playing with friends, 
hoping summer will never end.

No school, outside and free,
it is time just to be me.
Gliding on the porch swing, a bowl in my lap 
shelling peas with purple fingers-
I prefer to snap green beans, please.

Straight from the garden, a summer snack.
Chores done, potatoes stored in the shack.
Childhood summers make me wish for more,
tree climbing, river-side camping 
on a sandy shore
and so much more.
METADATA-START

The Afghan Thirteen by RL Brown

The Afghan Thirteen by RL Brown 

The pulse is weak,
a vanishing vapor,
Thanatos grins when
breathing ceased.

Death's grim triumph-
of the Afghan thirteen,
fallen, betrayed, 
left behind. 

A country's demise 
by the hands of a few 
won't be forgotten. 
America's heart bleeds.  

Hope hurts and hope heals, 
shattering the grip of hate-
past and present repeat. 
(1776)

Carry No More

Tears flow deep,
watered by roots of despair.
Let them grow no more.

Breathe the sunlit air.
Uproot weeds watered by tears.
Heart stirs, plant anew.
(Senryu) 



We plant roots deep in His Word, 
our faith in Jesus, and 
hearts atuned to the Holy Spirit 
then let God carry our burdens.  
Tears flow deep within
nourished by roots of despair.
Breathe the sunlit air
uproots weeds watered by tears
As your soul stirs, plant anew.
(Tanka) 

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not [a]fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8

Published Poetry/ Haikus and more

Mångata@haikugenius.ai/adbeia8aa
*Zephyr*  The Best Haiku 2025 international anthology. 
Zephyr @haikugenius.ai/adbeia8aa

Meat for Tea/ The Valley Review Volume 19 Issue 1 pg. 46

Fairytale Fishin’

No buckets, no boats, 
And no carrying large totes,
Just Grandpa and me. 

A pole in each hand
Grasshoppers by the pond bank.
Gramps catches our bait.

A nibble, a tug.
Feel the line, ignore the bug-
Wait-then jerk the hook-

A flip-flopping, splash, 
reeling in a big fat bass

(Excerpt from a Kid’s Tale 
by RL Brown)


Congratulations! Your poem "Fairytale Fishin'"was selected to be a part of the 2022/23 Conway Public Poetry Project installations. 

In the coming months, we will be working with the City of Conway to install these poems in various locations around the community.

We are also working on a booklet that will contain the poems, their locations, and information about each poet

Sponsored by Blackbird Art Collective, Conway AR
A Pastoral Cacophony

As morning’s first blush slips through the mizzling mist, dawn’s chorus begins. The woodland world wakes, nestlings fluff their feathers, squish together and listen to their twitter song.

Blackbirds sing a low mellow tone blending choral notes to a day-spring chant. Red-breasted robins' antiphonal tweets twitter back and forth. A cool zephyr breezes through the budding trees, and a hermit thrush adds a rhythmic woodwind harmony.

Chee-pippety-chee-chee, Jenny wren joins in with a light peppy lilt, stepping up the beat. Colorful warblers echo a descant as tiny rainbows shimmer in twilight’s dew. A Capella chorus in one voice sings a spring aria.


A blue jay’s catcall
signals a tail twitching taunt,
kitty in the weeds.
My inspiration for this poem came one spring morning while listening to bird songs at dawn's light. The slow build of antiphonal tweets and the sudden end, orchestrated by my cat reminded me of Bolero by Ravel. 
Better Than Starbucks
Poetry and Fiction Journal 
November 2022
Vol VII No IV
Rhonda Bronte Brown is a retired counselor/teacher who lives in Arkansas. She was published in Better Than Starbucks, the Trouvaille Review, and Haiku Seed Journal in February and March 2022. She also writes children’s books. Find her online at https://brontebrown2.com.
Better Than Starbucks Poetry and Fiction Journal November 2022
Vol VII No IV
Haiku: by R Bronte Brown 
Winter folds a tree-  
into a counterfeit death 
gray, boney, lifeless. 
Better than Starbucks, February 2022 Publication p. 41 
Editor's comment: Stark, powerful and tied to the four seasons.
Haiku Seed Journal @HaikuSeed_ Featuring these wonderful #haiku for the #HaikuSeed "winter"  

spring buds pop their heads, 
february trickery, 
winter snaps, not yet! 

#HaikuSeed / 24 Feb, 2022 winter   
All I can think of is an adult snapping at their children who were sneakily playing video games under their blankets instead of sleeping. Loved the playfulness of the writer and the haiku, there is a wholesome nature to it that brings out a smile.
— Sankara Jayanth
Editor, Haiku Seed Journal
@coffeeandhaiku
Trouvaille Review, February 15, 2022 Publication

The Dignity of Winter by R Bronte Brown 

Wind rustles the leaves. 
Trees shimmer yawning deeply, 
Anticipation.
 
Autumn equinox,
the balance of light and dark,
time juncture converts. 
 
Turn your face eastward.
Fall moon on the horizon
blazing golden hues.
 
Extravagant colors!
A migratory bird's last song.
Light wanes for evening.
 
Winter grants Fall's wish
for an encore flower dance,
frost procrastinates.
 
Nature splendor yields 
a harvest of abundance, 
Thankfulness expressed. 
 
Inner autumn calls,
time to embrace season’s change.
The wind howls for rest.
 
Winter winds whistling
Indian Summer's last stance
Bowing gracefully
 
Winter’s dignity
Lifeless trees quiet strength
Autumn seeds nestled deep-

Sheltered. 

From Bronte Brown:
morning’s blush
slips through
the mizzling mist


The Haiku Pond 🍃
@TheHaikuPond

Aug 13,2022
You can listen on your favorite podcast app or here: http://anthonynanfito.com/2022/08/14/a-waterfalls-purpose/
Trouvaille Review, March 23, 2022 Publication

The Hummingbird
Swiftest things that run the world,
Hums and beats, their wings unfurled.
Hummingbirds need constant fuel.
Brilliant blooms attract this jewel.
Forward, backward, upside down.
These dashing fliers zip around.
 
Golden flowers brilliant blooms
Entice birds with shiny plumes.
Blazing Star to Geranium,
Coral Bells to Delphinium.
Flower meadows, patchwork plots,
Scattered seeds in local lots.

Pray for Peace

Kentucky’s 101st Airborne on their way to Ukraine. Prayers for all 🙏🙏🙏🇺🇸
We need to wrap them in our prayers! Prayers for all of our men and women going! I didn’t hear this on the news but on Facebook. Update: I heard they were in Poland helping the Ukraine army.

I read a NET in Time post this morning, and she voiced a teenager’s concerns. “What if a mistake happens?”

Whether you believe it or not the 2020 election was stolen by media hook or crooked servers. The western hemisphere is now in a fog of dementia.

Whether biblical timing or a lost populous or the constant bombardment of fake news, the truth is lost in this demented fog. We face so many enemies entrenched in our gov’t and the world in our time. (How can you have a card-carrying communist head of the CIA? Pay for play head of the CDC?)

King Jehoshaphat faced a battle that he could not win. He drew back–to the LORD. His weapon was a heart of praise. When we voice a heart of praise, we are showing God our reliance on HIM. God took care of Jehoshaphat’s battle.

It is time to rely on the most potent weapon of all a heart of praise.

101st Airborne Division

Stretch

Perspicacity
Reach into the world of words,
to find clear insight.
Photo by Tamba Budiarsana on Pexels.com

Time for my morning stretch and run, now walk, oh, it’s too cold today.

Time for my morning quiet time, how about some music today, I forgot too…

Time, oh I have lots of time as an empty-nester- time to clean out those closets, the garage, procrastination…

How do I stretch my time, I used to get more done…My heart is just not in it anymore.

Yard work, now my shoulder is hurting again, should’ve kept up those PT exercises.

When we let things go for other things, sometimes we lose our flexibility, our stretchability. It is not lost, just needs our attention. Faith is the song that calms the restlessness inside of me. (From a song but I changed the words a bit.) Sometimes we get restless, the loss of time with our church family, not as much time with friends and family, the constant bombardment of news, both fake and real.

God is there and ready to stretch me (us) in new ways. It is time to stretch and yet, not forget or let go of God’s foundational Truth.

As I work to maintain my strength and daily walk, God continues to stretch me in new ways. I’ve been writing stories and poems, and every day I see His blessing, his walking beside me as I struggle. I am not a natural writer. I have to work at it. I read the word for today, and as usual, start with a blank slate.

There are things God wants to be said through me, so I stretch my reach into the world of words, meditate, contemplate, scratch out, rewrite, double-check for grammar, (always, hate putting a comma before and. It’s like saying and-and). Then I post.

For me, I need to keep my old faith muscles stretched and active. At the same time, stretch new ones.

Commitment

Commitment comes in all shapes and sizes. Some promises are short-term, some last for a season, and some are life-long. Long before God established the church, He formed the family as the basic unit of society-big or small. Our society grows, values develop, and traditions are passed on from the family.

Author unknown

Commitment does mean everything is perfect. The work to keeping a relationship begins on your wedding day. It is the day you said, I do, to a life-long commitment. Marriage is filled with life and all the happiness and sadness in this world. It is working to keep it alive and going and protect and shield it from the negative impacts of this world.

A Wedding Blessing for my son and new daughter by RL Brown
By RL Brown

Achievements

Setting goals and achieving them definitely build confidence and self-esteem. I have a long list of achievements from learning to ride a back, writing, educational goals to making lifelong friends and instilling a love for God in my family.

But when your heart-felt attempts are rejected and your achievements scorned that’s when you plant your feet on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. The actions I take for the kingdom of God have eternal value, which is a life-long lesson.

I have set my own goals at times above God’s purposes. Of course, I didn’t always see the truth in the moment, just plowed ahead. Yet, God made me the way I am and knew I would need to plow.

God blesses our achievements to show us that we are wonderfully made. Therefore, the glory is His.

I had nothing to write about this morning, feeling down–amazing how God can comfort your heart with a simple thought once you meditate on it.

My first painting by RL Brown