This collection of 100 poems by Don Hynes resonate with the rhythms of crashing waves and towering forests from the heart of the Pacific Northwest. Hynes explores the rugged beauty of trees, rocks, and rolling waves through an intimately personal lens.
More than nature poetry, these are soul poems – borne of memory, heartache, and dream visions. They reach transcendentally across time and space to connect with the reader’s own experiences of change and self-discovery.
Poems that reach into lifetimes – past, present and those to be imagined, and in the tradition of America’s most enlightened poets such as Mary Oliver and William Stafford, speak in a quiet voice of your place on earth and the place you are preparing.
Wind freshened, steeped in October rain, the dry land opens to autumn’s blessing. I search my soul for burdens I preserve, curses I repeat this day of grace. Rooted like a tree, I drink deep the waters of forgiveness, letting my soul rise on wings of new life. Yom Kippur,
Ebbing seas weave between islands in stone valleys of ancient quiet; gnarled trees reach for light, stillness spreads on the rugged shore. I sip the sea’s calm peace, breathe in the cool salt air, with earth on the autumn path of letting go and renewal. Friendships wax and wane, tides
Before a wall of ancient stone, I place prayers in cracks of silence. As tears soften my calloused heart, I trace a portal, barred by tradition. No incantations or chanted spells, one simple yes unlocks the door. Then heart’s chapel, quietly adorned, face to face with the Eternal.
