They say she had
lips as red
as roses,
to speak with life
to speak with love
to speak with a full, red heart,
eyes as bright
as stars,
to see the light
to shine the light
to connect earth and sky,
hair as dark
as ravens,
to fly above
to soar through night
to love the black river,
and skin as white
as snow,
to remind us of
the strength
of the rose.
I’m in the wood now,
by the moon mirror,
the still, black pond.
No leaves sway
on sentinel trees
this warm, windless night.
Jasmine scents,
a sleeping swan
the same colour as the moon,
her head tucked
under feathers.
I am the only one moving.
I shift upon a flat rock,
my fingers brush a fern.
I come here to be
nobody,
a swan, the moon, a feather.
I would stay forever.
Soon I will hear the cries
of the other world,
the changing world,
and I will go back to
soothe, inspire, mother.
Until then, I rest
out of time.
Feathered, she whispered.
Feathered, she winged.
“The night is leaving the land,
you know.”
I was curled up
and blinked slow
and sleepy.
“What, Spring is coming?
The air tastes like snow.”
The owl regarded
me with yellow
moon eyes.
“Who will you be in the sun?“
Then she spread her
white wings
and with the winter
was gone.
Hope is the fire
that shines brightest
in blackness.
A candle
twisting out
flames,
a burning eye
in the sky,
a star calling
your name.
You will know hope
best when she
is the only light
you see.
Find her
and follow her,
she will lead
you free
from the blackest
night of
clinging despair.
Don’t forget
her light
when
you are there.
Other than poetry, I write children’s books. I had some good news in Nov 2020 – my newest book Clarissa was published by Handersen Publishing. Today and tomorrow, it is free for kindle on Amazon.
A book for young readers, Clarissa explores the magic of nature. With the help of two wise friends, a fire spirit and an oak tree, young Clarissa learns to find her voice and speak her truth.
“A delightful, fantastical tale of how oak trees and humans can be friends” – Dr. James Canton, professor of Wild Writing
Clarissa is free for Kindle today and tomorrow. Paperbacks can be purchased from Amazon or directly from me. Buy it on my author website and I will sign and send.
And, yes the book starts with a poem.
There are four oracles who all live on a place called The Beginning of an End.
They are the Elemental All-seeing Eyes and a person could always claim they were their friend.
Ask the Eye of the Fire and it would reply: find your heart and soul, let them burn bright and aim for a goal.
Talk to Water’s Eye and it will say: feel your calm and flow, feel your wishing grow.
Remark to the All-seeing Eye of the Earth and it could tell you: search for your place of comfort and love, your place of hearing and above.
Speak to the Air of the Eye and it might comment: gather your freeness and breath, gather your energy and death.
And then, with all that in mind, you board your boat and sail away from the Beginning of an End, feeling like you have made amend.
This amazing poem is from a talented 14 yr old, Beatrice. I have read it a few times to myself aloud, and find so many depths of meaning.
Stars burning above,
she sang and the song reached
the fires of the sky.
Harmonies sailed down
in the voices of moonlight.
As she walked among
winter hills of the earth,
she sang with the stars.
Inky Cat's Poems 