Serenity
Windy Walk
Welcome to the wind's ball.
Among the ladies dressed in green
who stand and gently wave their arms
dancing in place
is all the fashion.
Everything is moving in the breeze.
It rushes and wooshes
quietly like ocean waves
through the greenery.
Blackbirds burble and trill
unseen from above
and crows squawk and yell
in the distance.
Everything rustles and trembles.
A linden tree creaks,
a beech hedge rattles at me
as I walk by.
A fat bumblebee browses
near a blue cloud of forget-me-nots
and the pale green new fingertips
of the evergreen bushes
glow palely in the waning light.
The birch trees hush me
like leafy librarians.
"Shush," they say,
"Shuuuuuusshhhh."
Into Memory
by Julia Tripp
There are times, moments really,
when Life, just as it is,
is Enough.
Sometimes, despite massive reorganization,
patient manipulation, it just doesn't work.
And even when predicted outcomes
materialize,
they don’t feel right.
Yet, there is satisfaction
in the thunk of firewood
as it's stacked;
in standing outside the school, waiting
like always, as promised;
in a goodnight kiss.
In these moments I would not
trade places with all I have believed
I could be.
All that I have is right now,
in this moment,
captured by awareness
into Memory.
Insomnia
I lay awake.
Again.
The night,
an unwelcome acquaintance.
I’d rather it were
a mystery.
That I, so lost in dreams,
never got the chance
to know it well.
But the secret sounds,
the particular plays of light,
the exaggerated ticking
of the clock.
They are all as familiar
as the tedious rituals
that daylight brings.
After the Party
by Deidre Abrahamsson
She dreamt of the moon again,
the moon of her childhood.
The moon that followed her home
as she drove with her family
late at night. After the party.
Nestled in the back seat of the car
with her sister and brother
she fell in and out of sleep,
glancing up at the sky
between closing lids,
and always, the moon,
following, watching, carrying
them home.
When they arrived
her father lifted her up,
her limp, resting body heavy
in his arms.
She came out of her sleep momentarily
to put her arms tight around his neck.
She heard voices.
His moon face sailed above hers.
He hurried up the front steps
to get out of the cold.
For Siobhan
by Deidre Abrahamsson
Follow the sharp smell of sea water
and the sound of the waves
as they crash onto shore,
and you will find me.
Sidling sideways under the moonlight,
scurrying and scuttling.
Elusive.
You may want to grab hold of me.
You may want to slow me down,
to point me in a different direction.
But I snap at you. Pinch you. Hurt you.
You may want to find out where I am going.
You may want to bring me on your journey
or to come along on mine.
You may think that you have gotten a hold of me.
You may think that I am going with you,
that you have me by the hand.
I have deceived you again.
I scuttle madly away to the surf.
You have lost me.
I am lost in the night.
Alone with the moon.
But even she will leave me.
It is better that you don't get too close to me.
Yes. It is better that you don't even try.
Heavenly Serenity
On top of the mountain
With a panoramic view
The pupil retreated
To see things anew.
The sky was a pearl
The sun a blissful shine
In the order of the universe
All seemed in line.
Consciously he breathed
The crisp air around
He succeeded in focusing
and hearing a divine sound.
Whispers of the winds
Quieted his lonely heart
overflowing with spirit
he played his best part.
In the pupil's valley of life
Tormenting chaos was dominated
By copying the serenity
that heaven emanated.