Strong winds sway the trees
while a full moon lies hidden
behind layers of cloud.
At dawn light rain
showers the metal roof.
From a far distance
the hunger for peace
crosses the sea.
What can I do
but receive the message
and let my begging bowl
of quiet be stirred
by the morning wind.
Reading of “Hunger for Peace” with music by Taj Mahal
High up the tall mountain
a cap of glacial snow
shines bright in the setting sun.
The waters lie calm between the islands,
warm air tinged with smoke
from the fires north in Canada.
Still as a hawk, I sit studying the sea,
learning to breathe with the tide
and gather in light like the gnarled trees
that line the wind stroked shore.
I’m empty of misgiving,
releasing what’s left of vanity
like snow upon the mountain
offered to the sun.
Daylight vanishes,
the Earth continues eastward
and down upon the rough hewn rock
I lay open to the stars.
photograph by Kyle Goetsch
Reading of “Open to the Stars” with music by Bob Dylan
Dolphins fish the tide line
while I drop a threaded coil
to the dark within,
my hook baited
with the worm of desire,
the waters of imagination
stirred by the cast.
You are down there
among the remembered faces
looking up to the light
that shines in darkness.
I remember your gifts –
the paper wrapped parcel
as we said goodbye,
the rosary with a silver cross,
the treasury of your open heart.
You rise for one moment
then return to the deep sea
where the beauty of so many
rests in peace
to feed the living
as we continue.
Reading of “As We Continue” with music by Patrick Ball
Though you’ve wandered far
and forsaken the familiar,
who called you to become
like the earth long enduring?
She waits in winter dark,
alive in the night
beside wind driven seas.
She offers Herself
to all who approach Her,
a gift beyond reckoning
bittersweet and rich
with the presence
of the eternal.
painting by Eilish Strawberry Hynes
Reading of “She Offers Herself” with music by Maryliz Smith
