Winter Souls

free verse poetry; copyright 2012

Cover blurbs:

“Do you have an inkling what a treasure you can be . . .” – Hank Beaukema

“This made me cry. The good kind; the hard kind.” – Tiffany Shea

“All my life I've tried to surround myself with only the best art and artists . . .” – Rick Yost

“Subtle and spare, yet richly textured. Startlingly original. Perhaps my favorite living poet.” – Elizabeth Burnam

“Simply beautiful. Elegant.” – Lori Darley

“ . . . wry wit / random insights / and vision.” – Sarah Clarke

Excerpt:

I am mercy now

 

I am mercy now,

settled in my own mind

 

behind the red mask,

eyes wide open

where the ordinary had been,

I mock blind chaos

 

I am immersed in wonder

beyond cloaks and sturdy walls,

beyond the grace of the playful creek,

beyond the murmurs of the mountains

and the mocking memory of pains

 

I hear the welcome music of echoes,

the scarce, longing tolls of bells

as once-shattered answers

fill the emptiness of questions

 

no longer satisfied

with only half a joy,

we share a simple smile, and again

 

swirling naked in the once-abyss,

two souls fit into one body

beyond the band of twilight’s purple sky

as laughter shatters the moment,

puts it back together, sparkling