Michelle Garren Flye's Blog

Has it really been almost a month since my last post?? Horrifying.

Well, not really, because I think that was about the time I realized I needed to get my next poetry book together. I’ve been working on it for the past year, and I knew it was done, just needed to be put together.

So…with that said, here it is!

Presenting:

Here’s the description: “Author and poet Michelle Garren-Flye has always been fascinated by poetic forms. In Thick & Thin, Michelle explores the relationship between two of her favorites, haiku and sonnets, using the one to inspire the other. Two forms from very different cultures, yet somehow very similar. Is it possible William Shakespeare might have befriended Matsuo Basho if he’d been given the opportunity?”

Thick & Thin is currently available on Amazon. It’ll take a few weeks to get them printed for the store, but then you’ll definitely be able to get a copy there!

Last week I went home for a vacation.

Home is the mountains of North Carolina. At least, that’s where my hometown of Brevard is. As I’ve now lived on the coast for longer than I grew up in the mountains, I sometimes wonder where “home” really is. If my blood was once the red clay of the mountains, surely it’s now mixed with the Crystal Coast seawater.

It wasn’t totally my choice to set down roots here on the coast, but I can’t say I’m totally sorry I have. And I definitely don’t feel as at home in my old hometown as I do here in my new one.

But oh, those mountains. I spent a fair amount of time outside during our stay. I walked with my son and his dog in the little neighborhood where we stayed. We all hiked through the gardens of Biltmore Estate one afternoon. The steps we got that day! We spent a day touring the Western North Carolina Nature Center. The animals were mostly asleep while we stood gaping at their beauty.

And in the evenings, a glass of wine in hand, I sat on the front porch looking out at the trees, wondering if I ever moved home would the roots I had put down in the sandy soil of the coast re-acclimate to the mountain soil?

Starting over is not something I’m great at, so I won’t be doing it anytime soon. I love my life here, and I don’t want to leave it.

But oh, those mountains. They call me still.

Written six months ago post Hurricane Helene, whose destruction I saw in person for the first time last week. Photo and poem copyright 2025 Michelle Garren-Flye. Not for use without permission. Oh, those mountains. Someday. Photo and poem copyright 2025 Michelle Garren-Flye. Not for use without permission.

I think we all need to hear something like this now.

I’ve never used the haiku to springboard a different type of poem than a sonnet…until now. This is more freeform, or at least, it took on a form of its own. (Unless this type of poetry already has a name?) Anyway, I couldn’t pin this one into a sonnet format. It’s a bit more sprawling.

alabaster white
pottery shards strewn about
just flower petals

Unglued
By Michelle Garren-Flye

Seeing white shards among the green grass
I pause to remember shattered china
on the strange orange floor of the kitchen,
no sooner broken than regretted,
gathered up and pieced back together with glue.

But these are just magnolia petals
dropped carelessly from an angelic bloom
to the peace of the smooth emerald below,
and the tree has no regrets, emits no sighs,
but stands tall, rich in nonchalance.

Maybe it’s time to throw out the glue
and mow the broken scraps under
so I can grow something new. Photo and poem copyright 2025 Michelle Garren-Flye

Mother’s Day is a day of mixed feelings for me. I have kids who can’t always be with me all day on Mother’s Day anymore because, guess what?, if you raise your kids right, they go off and get jobs and significant others (who inconveniently also have mothers) (that’s a joke), and sometimes even homes of their own. I am fortunate to have three wonderful children who all love me and who all take the time to wish me a happy Mother’s Day, whether they are with me or not. I am proud of them and their accomplishments, even when I wish I could spend more time with them.

My own mother passed away in February two years ago. And I’m divorced, so, although I still care very much for my ex’s mother, I haven’t seen her, and communication is difficult. I went from having two mothers I celebrated to having memories of them, mostly.

On Mother’s Day, honor your mother. But also remember the motherless children and the childless mothers. In honor of all mothers and all children, I made an attempt at a Petrarchan sonnet. I’ve always found them difficult, and I’m far from certain I got it right.

Mother’s Day Petrarchan
By Michelle Garren-Flye

All the world seems full of scent and flower;
there is no thought of tears or sorrow here.
Have you ever seen the blue sky so clear?
Absolutely no chance of a shower.
Ease is an arboreous bower!
Spring is not the time for sadness, my dear;
please recognize this is the month for cheer,
and worship this time, adore each hour.
But...is this day not one of amity?
Remembrance can cast a dusky shadow…
although I think it’s mostly vanity.
I say this now with all due gravity:
A mother’s love is much more than most know;
Death cannot reduce its capacity.

This year, I decided to buy my mother roses. I have her picture in my bookstore, and I put the roses next to it. She was never able to visit my store but I know she would have loved it. So I keep her picture on a shelf and remember her every day. I know I am fortunate to have had a mother like her. One I want to remember.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mama. Copyright 2025 Michelle Garren-Flye

And so it’s done. And it was really fun. A challenge indeed. Perhaps some rest I need.

Sonnet 15

Fashion Flash

Purple is the color this spring;
from coast to coast, it is the rage.
Don lavender attire when dressing—
perform a twirl as you take the stage.

Forget the pinks and greens of yesteryear;
cast off rose-colored raiment and robe.
Today’s tint is arrived, it’s here!
Making a mark all around the globe.

Try on every dress but discard each?
You can’t expect to become a violet
The iris, too, is beyond your reach.
Such finery, no, you can’t acquire it.

But…maybe it’s better not to pretend?
We can only be ourselves in the end. Photo and poem copyright 2025 Michelle Garren-Flye

I started out this month wondering if I could do it.

Haiku 15

turn your face to sun
indigo star in my yard
purple radiance Photo and poem copyright 2025 Michelle Garren-Flye

Sonnet 14

Choosing the Battle

Wait if you will for the wind to blow
you from your stem into the world,
I refuse to believe I’m just for show,
though it’s easier to wait, arms unfurled

for the next breath to set me aflight.
Instead of struggling over the hilltops
to the crest of the mountain—always a fight—
just let the breeze carry me through raindrops.

But no, it’s my life, I must make my own way,
carry my own weight where I wish to go.
If I tamely wait here, I may fall prey
to lethargic languor and become too slow.

I will struggle on always though it is hard
and I may arrive at last, battered and scarred. Photo and poem copyright 2025 Michelle Garren-Flye

Haiku 14

final flower peaks
flourishing among the dead
faith keeps it alive Photo and poem copyright Michelle Garren-Flye

Sonnet 13

Spring’s Mad Dance

Do you want to waltz with spring?
When everyone’s in their best dress
throw out your arms, embrace everything!
Let worries and fears go to rest!

Look here, the roses are blushing pink,
the shy daisy is showing his heart.
Bold azalea has awarded you a wink
and the dance has yet to start!

Sweet violet, won’t you stay by my side
when others crowd out on the floor?
You and I can find a place to hide;
I know I’d never ask for more.

In the midst of spring’s mad dance
let’s pause and give love a chance. Photo and poem copyright 2025 Michelle Garren-Flye