Widen the Lens

Widen the Lens

Widen the lens
Pull your gaze
Off the ugly
For even a moment
Refocus

The sadness
The heartless destruction
Of lives
And livelihoods
Of buildings
And homes
Remains in 
The field of vision
But take away
Its all-consuming
Power
Over your heart

See also
The feathered friends
Flying
With abandon
Resting now 
Upon naked
Branches

See also the fringes of ice
Decorating the edges
Of the comforters
Which lay 
Upon the 
River rocks

See also
The tree trunks
Reflected
In the stillness
Of downstream water


See also
The meadow
Beyond the trees
At river’s edge
Dormant now
With carpet
Of marshmallow
White
Protecting its soil

See also
The hint of buds
Erupting on
Winter branches
Looking like raisins
Representing
Hope

Allow your breath 
To be released
Your lungs to expand
Your fears to diminish

And 
See also
Creation 
Steadfast Reminder
That Love
Will overpower hate.

Patricia O’Connor

Find the Ember

Find the Ember

Sadness
Fear 
Confusion
Distrust
Guilt
Shame
Anger
Sadness

All seething
Within
Pressing
From all sides
Threatening
Explosion

The world
On fire
Innocent lives
Destroyed
Collateral damage
Homes
Infrastructure
Years of work
Up in flames

Where is love?
Can we find space
In our troubled hearts
For love?

Can we step away
From the noise
Smoke, lies
And find the peace
We require
To clear our vision
Grieve our losses

Can we step away
And acknowledge
The shame
We may feel
As citizens
Of this country 
and the monumental
Frustration 
Overtaking us
as we feel
Held hostage
By a regimen
of evil, greed
Corruption and the lust
for power 
and adulation

Can we step away
From the noise
To find peace
And love
Deep within
Our souls?

Can we embrace quiet
And listen
For the voice
As persistent
And gentle
As hummingbird wings
The voice
That will guide us
Empower us
And grant us
The courage
To go on living
Defiantly
A life of love
And service
To the people?

Love cannot
Be extinguished
Find the spark
The ember
Deep within 

Feed that light
Fan the flame
Reside in the hope
that
Together
We will
Someday
Overcome 
The darkness.  


Patricia O’Connor
March 1, 2026




Together, We are Massive

Together, We are Massive

The news worsens
I am confounded
My confidence gone
Who am I
As a member
Of this country
Previously proud to be so
Now embarrassed
Saddened
Grieved by the egregious
Actions
And threats
Of our preposterous president.

I know not what to do
I lie awake.  Awake.
Hour after hour
Sick with worry
Hopeless as I am helpless
To fix, to mitigate even
Disaster after disaster.

From deep in the private
Recesses
Of my hurting heart
Comes a silken shroud
I allow myself 
To be wrapped within
The soft and warm
I release briefly
My stale breath
Letting the acid
Ascending from my gut
Trickle back down
my vise grip opens
and the scraping of teeth
  whispers into silence.

It is from within
This protected den
I hear
The gentle voice 
Of love and 
Reason

Much to my chagrin
And relief
I am reminded
I am not all-powerful
Nor all-knowing
But I am enough
To answer
That which is my call
Which is within
My reach

I can hold onto truth
As I experience it
I can share love
I can feel joy
For in this time of
Great suffering
In this time of
Conflict-violence-evil
We can only but do 
each 
Our own part
Participate in healing
That which lay
Within our reach 

The writers must write
The painters must paint
The protectors must protect
Lovers must love
And the faithful
And the doubters
Must pray
And so on.

We all must watch
And listen
Create a sabbath 
In our hearts 
Each day
And then
When we hear
in the silence of our hearts
 the calling or our names
Our jobs will become clear
And we must go forth
With courage
To do each our part
No matter how small
For together
We are massive
Together
 We will survive 

Patricia O’Connor
January 2026

Lunar Honor

Lunar Honor

What a fun honor
It must be 
To be a Super Moon!

To reflect 
So brilliantly
The Light of the
Son

To be able 
At times
To duck 
Behind the clouds
And hide from the world

To emerge
At times
A mere half
Of oneself
Or even
A crescent!

To illuminate
A winter night
With the 
Scintillation
Of a million diamonds
Reflecting off the 
Snow-covered landscape

To be the cause 
Of insomnia
And maybe even
A bit of 
Mischief

What a great honor
It must be 
To be a Super Moon
To reflect
The Light
Of the Son
Upon the world!
IMG_7243.JPG

Love Off the Page

Love Off the Page

The Power of Love
Words
Two dimensional letters
Clustered
Arranged
Lifeless
Cold

And yet
When witnessed
When you stand
In the kitchen
And have the honor
Of being present
For an embrace
Of brothers
Your heart
Changes form
Puffs up
With warmth
Grows outward
Pushing its 
Self-imposed
Boundaries
Filling your eyes
Threatening tears
An involuntary
Smile 
Appears

There is a near
Palpable energy
Electric-like
Zipping through
The room

In these moments
You know
There is Power
In Love

In these moments
You know
Life is 
Precious

In these moments 
Current world crises
Fade away
Frigid temps
Melt into nothingness
For You know
There is 
Power in Love
And 
Life is good.

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November Robins



Breast the color
Of weathered bricks
Shiny black head
Of the male
Duller charcoal black 
Of the female
Dirty yellow beak
Feathers charcoal grey
Beads of black for eyes
Accentuated by rings of white

It is the eyes
Which captivate
Seeming to penetrate 
Deeply into my soul
They remain fixed
Not deterred
By my return gaze

In Ireland
The robin (spideog) 
Is considered to be
Sacred
Believed to have
Acquired its red chest from 
The blood of Jesus
When removing 
Pain-inflicting thorns 
From His crown
As He hung on the cross

Many cultures
Attribute Legends 
of heroism and self-sacrifice
To the small birds
Calling their red breasts 
A badge of honor

The American robin
Is a thrush
The European robin
An Old-World flycatcher
United by the red breast
They are both called robins

Scientists say
The robin’s eyes
Sense the weak force
Of the earth’s magnetic field
Giving them a compass to navigate by
What force do they sense
From me
What do they wish me to understand?


I wonder
What causes me to be
 Filled with awe
And covered with goosebumps
As I gaze into the eyes
Of these birds
Believed by many
To be messengers for those 
In the spirit world.

November robins
Eleven of them 
Living in their winter flock
Hop around the yard
Pulling up worms 
From the earth
Soon they will be existing
On berries and seeds
As winter hardens
The earth.

November robins
Hopping from branch to branch
Atop the crab apple tree
Feeding on their winter food
As mother deer
And her fawn 
Munch the fruit
Fallen below

Yes, winter is coming
But spring will return
And I will once again
Work in the garden beds
With these same robins
Living in pairs
Singing that familiar 
Courting tune 
They will sit nearby 
Waiting for me to unearth
A scrumptious treasure

But for today
I will enjoy
The gift 
Of 
Robins in November!
Summer

Love

Love

As a person of faith and wonder
As a resident of this troubled country
Of this hurting world,
As a person
I believe
That Love is the answer
Love heals
Comforts, supports
Includes, affirms

Love is an energy for good
That energy will bring peace
And compassion
To the human heart
Then from each heart
Open to witnessing
Expressing love
In all its forms
There will be ripples
Which will spread to our families
Communities
Countries
World

If only
We push aside
The curtains of fear
And hate
Greed 
and power lust
If only we dare to
Open our hearts
To seeing Love
Knowing Love
Feeling Love
Sharing Love.

Amen.
May it be so.


Patricia O’Connor
patocwriter.com