Stranger to the Beautiful
Poems of Soul and Spirit
Stranger to the Beautiful
In this new collection of 52 poems, we see a master at the height of his powers, one who has allowed the “wildness” of existence to drive out arrogance. He is our witness on the “yearning shore,” reminding us that even when the world feels shrouded in “desperate folly,” we are not lost. He teaches us a way of communion that requires no chanting or spells—only “one simple yes” to the wonders that persist despite the darkness.
Don Hynes is more than a poet of our generation; he is a keeper of the “hidden stone,” the birthplace of beauty. He reminds us that even as the cultural landscape seems to “descend,” we have the “stars in flight” to guide us. He proves, through every carefully chosen word, that we are “children of the eternal,” and that even in the deepest frost of the soul, we are good.
Global Book Award Gold Medal Winner
Among Don Hynes many talents as a poet, particularly those revealing the vast beauty and intensity of the Northwest, his greatest gift is to awaken within us that deep magic, that breaks open to our soul new energies and awakens what we have both missed in our lives and now become open to, through the magic of his words.
– David Kyle, PhD author and teacher
Stranger to the Beautiful is a book shaped by attention. Not the quick glance or borrowed insight, but the kind of sustained listening that comes from living long enough to be altered by weather, by loss, by silence, and by the natural world’s refusal to hurry. These poems feel earned—like something carried over years rather than assembled.Stranger to the Beautiful feels less like a book to be consumed than a place to return to, a reminder that even now, the sacred still speaks through land, season, and the attentive human heart.
– Diana Soto, author of In the Room with God
Don Hynes’s poetry is deceptively clear, akin to Robert Frost. He negotiates a shared space between the natural and the spiritual with both the gift and the patience to welcome the world, hidden and evident, and to give it voice. Stranger to the Beautiful has the feel of music– classical music, with leitmotifs of silence, dark, stars, the deep and, of course, the beautiful.
– Louis MacKenzie, Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
Although titled “Stranger to the Beautiful,” poet Don Hynes is an intimate companion to the deep, dark and lustrous beauty of this world, within and without. These are intricately wrought paeans and hymns of longing and abiding sung in the voices of winds and weathers, timeless as stone, fresh as a sunrise.”
– Will Hornyak, author and storyteller
“Don Hynes has a gift. His poetry brings nature alive in my heart. Somehow, the spell he weaves into the simplest of words transports me beyond the concept of being more than my body and becomes my experience. I love the poignancy of Mary Oliver and the heart currents from Pablo Neruda and I include Don Hynes in that blessed company.”
– Will Wilkinson, WSJ best-selling author
Hidden Stone
I shelter with trees
below cold wet ground
what’s left above
leafless, without color.
Burrowing in soft earth
I find roots of peace
woven to the hidden stone,
birthplace of beauty.
There she holds me,
child in Her lap
cradled once more
in Her undying Eden.
Written on Water (for Humphery)
Along the rugged shore
broken faces of old stones,
full of ancient records
and passages of the sun.
I hear of the heartbeats
in the cold water silence,
the passing of the years
in vanished voices.
Written on water,
their stories given to the sea,
carried where tides travel
to the holy book
at the end of time.
Stranger to the Beautiful
Uprising
Night winds rouse
the old earth gods-
rivers don’t sleep
dark forests rise,
sodden roots shatter
the concrete prison.
Turing to Earth
Morning winds,
white-capped waves
autumn hues-
brown and pale green,
turning to earth.
Heart sprung open
by wind and color…
Evening Quiet
Silent as the earth
I match her pace,
steady and serene
in evening quiet.
Why conjure problems
while swallows perform,
and the world is bathed in light?
Give Your Hand
Quiet the restless mind
still the surge of emotion.
Let this hour belong
to the One who grants the gift.
Leave the drunkards at their bar,
your hand given to the Beloved.