Soothing sounds
Caress my spirit
Refresh my soul
The waters tumbling over the dam
Joining the stream below
Create a melody of peace
The birds, twittering, chirping
Tweeting and singing
Lend a happy riff
The air,
Purified by the trees
Humbly standing sentry
At lake’s edge
And cooled by the waters of the lake
Rejuvenates
And heals
As I sip deeply
Imbibing joy
The beauty
Of the families of waterfowl
Furry balls of brown and rust
Clustering around mama
On the rocky island
Jumping on and off
Playfully
As mama looks on in amusement
With her rust-colored crown
Glistening regally
In the sun
She is called
A Common Merganser
Truly a misnomer.
The geese family
Glides by
Seemingly connected
Like a train
Yet no couplers are visible
The downy fur of the offspring
Greyish tan in color
Announces their youth
But how different
They are in their regimented movement
From their merganser cousins!
The boaters come and go
Smiling faces of anticipation
Upon arrival
A countenance of serenity
Upon departure
The fishermen
Intent, eager and hopeful
As they launch their watercraft
Happily sharing
Their stories of success
And almosts
As they reluctantly take their leave
Many hours later.
Little Lake Sunapee
A treasure beyond measure
More healing than
Any spa
More relaxing than
Any pill
A place of serenity, joy
Happiness and life
A natural resource
Which we must protect
Respect
And reflect upon
With gratitude!
Imagine 2
Imagine
A world without war
A home without strife
A gun without ammunition
A voice without disdain
A message without scorn
Imagine
A life without hate
A storm without destruction
A highway without collisions
A field without ticks
A rose without thorns
There are moments
There are places
There are chapters of life
When we can thus imagine
When our path is smooth
Our waters placid
In these times
We give thanks
Gratitude not guilt
We give thanks
and absorb the peace we know
So as to share
To drop our pebble
Lend ripples of shalom
To the world
Then there are other moments
When despite
The pain, suffering
And destruction
Swirling around us
We still know peace
We hold tightly to that kernel
Of light
Of hope
Of love
Which resides
Deep within
Filling our being
This peace in the midst of turmoil
Can also be shared
Pebbles of compassion
Ripples of love
Healing salve for our troubled world.
The Rock and I
As rushing waters
Joyfully escape from the dam above
They cross
A band of white
As they roar over
The deep grey shale rock
A thick vein of white
Adds beauty and mystery
To the shining grey
Quartz bands form
As water seeps through slate
And creates crystals
On the walls where fractures occurred
I have a deposit of white
Within my grey and brown
I earned it and it is good!
White beauty created
From trauma
And age
We are one
The rock and I!
Beauty
Midnight black feathers
Glistening with a sheen of brilliance
Pull me into friendship
Intimacy of conversations
Shared in the dark
Your loyalty and dedication
To your offspring
Inspire and reassure
Testimony to kindness in the world
As you hunt unceasingly
To feed your young
The intricacy of
The checkerboard pattern
Of the underside of your tail feathers
Adds an
Unexpected beauty
And complexity
In flight,
From below
Your brick red breast
Claims all the attention
But at rest,
As you gaze through
The lovely deep pool of your right eye
Circled in white
I wonder
Do you see my energy field
Like you see earth’s magnetic field?
May I imagine
You comprehend
Your welcome?
Is it you
And/or your offspring
Who grace this yard
With your presence
Who make our home your home
Year after year?
Nest fidelity
Dedicated parenting
Unadorned beauty
Mr. Robin
Your presence stirs love in my heart
Giving me hope
For our world
If we but pause
And pay attention!
In Memory
Of all who served
And sacrificed
Putting country
Before self
Honor
Before ego
Dedication
Before greed.
I salute you
I pause in gratitude
For what you have given
I hold space in my heart
For your loved ones
As they live on
Carrying grief and loneliness.
It is my
Greatest desire
That this, your country
That we, your people
Can live in a manner
Deserving of your ultimate gift.
Promise
Oh, to be a pine cone
Hanging upon tree’s highest branch
Separate, beautiful
Each scale distinguishable
Against the cerulean sky
Clustered together
Residing in a copse of cones
Are they protecting each other
As they face nature’s fury?
Wind, rain
Snow and crisping sun
They cling
Undisturbed
Treetop cones
Are the first
To witness morning’s light
And twilight’s first star
When still young and small
Their scales are open
Ready to receive pollen to fertilize
Their seeds
They then go on to close up
And grow
Holding within their bodies
Hope, promise
Of new life to come
When they find their way to earth
But for now,
They give regal crown
To the simple pine
Oh, to be a pine cone!
Patricia O’Connor
2024
Potential
Seeds planted
Germinated
Fresh green cotyledon
Breaking through soil
Bursting with possibility
Void of disease, destruction
Facing the sunlight
Using their chlorophyll
to pull energy from the sun
Creating more life
Human babies
Newborns
Void of wounds, mishaps, disease
Alive with anticipation
Open and accepting
Turning toward
The light of love
From the world
We who witness the potential
Grow
Full of excitement
While harboring fear
Knowing
Perfect does not last
Suffering happens
Possibilities do not
Guarantee achievements
But still
There is hope
Joy
and
Anticipation
In witnessing new life
Welcomed and rejoiced over
Even
with the knowledge
That pain, disappointment
Will happen
Arriving hand in hand
With growth
New life
Birth and rebirth
Accepting the risk
Loving the whole
That is our challenge
That is our joy
Holding onto the faith
Of Julian of Norwich
That all shall be well
and
All shall be well
and
All manner of things
Shall be well.
Ageless Spirit
The concert hall is bulging
With silver, grey, white, and bald heads
Mixed with a few scattered brunettes and blondes
The air is electric with anticipation
Conversations fill the theater
Like a bowl of Rice Krispies
Strangers connecting
Sharing stories
Of how Tom’s music
Has impacted their lives
People recall the details
Of a show
Some fifty years past
With smiles adorning their faces
It could be thought
All are trying merely to
Recapture their youth
Maybe some of the energy
Erupting within
Is memories being unearthed
Triggering joy
But as Tom Rush
Humbly
Without introduction
(none required!)
Ambles out onto the stage
The electricity crackling
Through the air
Is here. Now. In this moment.
Tom stands fully present
Not a ghost of yesterday
His eyes are sparkling with joy and fun
His face
Wearing the wrinkles of a life
Of laughter, love and authenticity
As he radiates life
Ageless spirit of life
He strums his guitar
Sings out the lyrics
Tells the stories
And makes us laugh
He gives no apology
For his 80+ years
(None required!)
As he performs his creations
Old and new
He introduces songs
From his new album
So aptly titled
Gardens Old
Flowers New
So true
We,
The silver heads
Leaning on canes
Wearing braces
Slow sometimes to move
Turning up our hearing aides
We are old gardens
Being fertilized tonight
With joy and love of life
With merriment and truth
We leave the theater
Returning to our own worlds
Ready, maybe
To embrace
Our own well-nourished gardens of life
And grow new flowers
To share
To cherish
To treasure
Ageless beauty.
Ageless spirits.
A Lesson from the Eclipse
Fear crosses our paths
Uninvited, unwelcome
It can block our light
Obscure our dreams
Insidiously it moves across
Our being
Races our heart
Constricts our throats
At its height
It seems to obliterate our dreams
But stay present.
Even when all hope seems lost
When the shadow of that fear
Covers over the light of your dreams
Stay present.
Look into that fear
And notice
There is still light
Our dreams
Send out light, energy, life
They are encased in an atmosphere of hope
Which cannot be extinguished
By the shadow of fear
Our dreams are diamonds
Oft in the rough
Waiting to be
Polished, and lived out
Releasing their light to the world
The moon did not extinguish the light
Do not let the shadow of fear
Convince you
That your dreams are gone
They are merely hidden
Look fear in the face
See the corona of your dreams
Streaming with energy and light
The shadow will move on
Hold onto the dreams!
In the Shadow
The path of the moon
As it travels across
The life-sustaining
gaseous orb
is riveting
as the black arch
cuts away the edge
of the orange globe
then, like molasses on a cold winter day
it travels on
until totally obscuring the Sun
Mid-day brilliance turns to dusk
Hats are donned
Jackets pulled close
As the mercury plunges
There is mystery here
Causing silence amongst
Those gathering in this nest
In the woods
Random strangers
Together gazing upward
At a wide expanse of sky
It feels as if
This is our own private show
The Sun
Blocked now in its entirety
Continues to illuminate
From its celestial space
It radiates a mystical peace
Upon our earthen home
The forest animals
Howl, roar, yap, grunt, bark
Their approval
Or is it their fear
As the moon accomplishes
Its travel to create
Totality
While the domestic dogs
Present in our space
Are silent, one and all
The Sun
Blocked in its entirety
Continues to shed light
Upon our nest in the forest
Sharing its jacket of gases
The atmosphere we cannot see
Hidden as it normally is
By the Sun’s brilliance
Is now the central player
The corona radiates
its light out to our world
The mountains and valleys of the moon
Add to the display
As they permit a sparkling red gem
To shine through creating
A Baily Bead
A diamond ring of infinite carats
Shines for all to briefly appreciate
Before we must don once again
Our protective eyewear
There is something
In this experience
Which penetrates my being
And establishes residence
Deep within
Naming it
Would be tantamount to taming it
Beauty, awe
These words do it no justice
It is beyond even a reverence
A hope
An expansive, open feeling
Deep within
A joy
An awareness
Of how small we truly are
Of how much more exists
Beyond our ken.
Crumbs for the Journey 