Reverie (2007)

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I've recently run across some old poems... 

Adding some of them to my online anthology...

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 Reverie

Why are you hiding friend?

Why do you not respond?

Why do we humans hide?

Why not open ourselves

while we draw breath

to listen beyond and beneath words

to hear our hearts beat

to share the rhythm of our souls?

I yearn for a day

when we love one another

in spite of disagreements

in spite of misconceptions.

When with open face and open hearts

we can stand in one another's presence

unguarded, naked

without reservation.

When we see with enlightened hearts

what it is that lies deep within

compelling each of us to act as we do.

....Yes, I am a dreamer....

Hopefully the dreams have substance

and one day perhaps

we will be connected with a resonance

that extends beyond words

a magic that too often exists

only in our dreams.

I pray I never lose that dream

never quit believing

in the heart of another

my sister, my brother

wherein perhaps is planted

an eternity divine.

january, 2007

In Loving Memory: 1922- 1996 (1996)

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I've recently run across some old poems... 

I plan to add them to this poetry blog...

So, reader beware...

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 In Loving Memory: 1922- 1996

He was patient and kind, a man of his own

who loved life to the fullest regardless 

of what life sometimes dealt to him.

He loved the outdoors:

a hunter, a skier, a sailor, a golfer.

He enjoyed people

sharing his life the best he knew.

His will to live was strong.

Despite overwhelming odds, he continued to strive to be his best.

We will miss him:

his smile, his laugh, his positive outlook on life, his quit wit.

Yet we well remember the joy he brought,

his example of patience and gratitude.

We will ever be thankful for the inspiration

he gave to continue to live life to the fullest;

to never give up.

february, 1996

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The poem above is about my father. 

He was in a head-on auto collision in July 1983; it rendered him a quadriplegic until his death in February 1996. 

I've written quite a few pieces about that part of his life, of our lives as a family.

Here's a poem about when I 1st laid eyes upon Dad after his wreck: Head-on Collision.

This link is to links of some memoir-type pieces I've written about that time: When Limbs Go Quiet.

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Unnamed: In honor of Alex (2006)

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I've recently run across some old poems... 

I plan to add them to this poetry blog...

 ~*~

Unnamed: In honor of Alex 

I know you cannot hear me

for your heartbeat stopped long ago.

I chose to stop your heartbeat,

I chose to stop your growth.

I never allowed you

to know the breezes of the fields

to see the beauty of the sun or snow.

In my ignorance I chose these things.

Were they right or wrong?

Honestly, I do not know.

Yet my pain runs deep today.

~my heart, it hurts~

~my tears, pour forth~

~this grief, it is for you~

In it I honor the life you once were,

the individual you may have been.

I can see you in my heart's eye:

an infant with dark hair,

deep brown eyes,

soft, smooth olive skin.

And if you were here now my love

I would hold you at my heart,

I would stroke your raven locks,

I would gently kiss your forehead,

I would cradle you at my breast,

I would nourish you, love you,

your essence I'd caress.

Oh, God!

Please honor the grief I feel!

Thank you for forgiveness,

thank you that wounds do heal.

Thank you for life you have blessed me with,

in spite of my erring ways.

Thank you as I offer this grief

as a sacrifice of praise.

And now I set within this sacred place

amidst nature's beauty, freedom, grace

among the rocks

the sun

the snow

the ponies that run wild...

The memory and life

of this

my unborn child.

07/04/06

I later named him Alex...

~*~

This poem is about an abortion I received at 19 years old around the fall of 1978 when I was W.O.W. Ambassador with The Way International...

As one can see by the date, this was written almost 28 years later, a time when I deeply grieved the loss...

I had had a reunion with the father; shortly thereafter I grieved deeply...

I decided to honor the life that was once in my womb with a private ceremony. 

I bought some tokens at a local Good Will: a small blue tin with a heart on the middle of the lid, blue booties, and blue mittens. 

My husband (who is not the father) and I held a private ceremony in one of my sacred wilderness spots -- near Mt. Rogers, VA, where feral ponies run free. 

We hiked in from Massie Gap, carrying a foldable shovel. Shortly before one gets to Thomas Knob Shelter, we buried the tokens and sang Amazing Grace, one the father's (and our) favorite songs. As we hiked out, we took a break at a bench. We were graced with the presence of the ponies and a tiny newborn foal who approached us and said, "Hello..." 

It was July 4, 2006...

I did not have a smart phone at the time and have no images from that day; the picture below is from 2017. The foal in the pic is older than the tiny one we witnessed on that sacred July 4th.

 ~*~

Mare & Foal, 2017