At the close of each year
I like to reflect upon all
to note what it is I might have learned
before releasing the past forever to
the freedom of prevailing winds
Then I inhale deep and smile
my gaze upon the new year’s opening sky
anticipating the fledgling wonders
unfolding like a boardwalk through
the forest light of future exploring
Endings and Beginnings
Silences between
Gratitude for every moment
Every song and every scene🪶
Who is there to ask
for definitions not yet discovered
A lonely imagination
pausing to look out upon darkest night
What layers comprise
perfection in form or grace or sound
Spirit of winter
Instruments built from ice of frozen lakes
cut from their melancholy depths
Are there screams
echoing from the drawings to surface
Is there acquiescence
breathless upon a reluctant entrance
And why forever
is it never quite good enough to placate
Our perpetual longing
like Alcyon waiting for Ceyx
Is it?🪶
Voice of steady calm
deeper then deeper still
Distractions tossing pebbles
soft rain upon windowglass
Drawstrings of a satin bag
closing loosening bound escapees
Crumbs dropping in silence
a straw grass collection plate
All those memory hallways
nebula of evermore faded rainbows
Maybe mindfulness intends
less nothing more everything
Freedom for wandering
fragments thought long gone to dust
If you have a bell, ring it
If you’ve a vision, sketch it out
If you’ve a story, speak it
If you’ve an idea, expandexplore don’t doubt
If you’ve a song to sing, sing it
Shine your light
This is your contribution to life
No matter what
No matter who
You alone validate you
A single light in the darkness
Might become two
Mist of waterfalls
Flowers light in the morning sun
Small boats on a lake
Water’s still there is no one
Leave room for sad eyes
Begin with a thought even if it’s a lie or emerged from a morning dream
Think not of anything but the scratch of lead against paper
Are you one of those whose fingers do not know the feel of a pencil
or the echo in an empty room free of all inspired distraction
Go ahead or run behind but hover always in the moment
for it takes just half a breath before it’s already too late
What have you done with all those memories
abandoned behind a bedroom door when you made your last move
Turn down your light or you’ll alarm the wild life
You’ll need them if you ever want to get out of here.
Dimming of the day
walking away from twilight gold
Feel the weight of its cloak
River Lee’s flowing down slow
through Cork town into the Celtic Sea
She’s never looking back
at who she leaves behind
Sheep watch with curiosity ready
for flight should you become dangerous
Talk soft like you place your boots
hoping there’s no bog below to seep in
Green is green
Ocean’s wild
You’re an actor in this epic scene
You alone with your whispers and wonder
Lean into stone window for faerie views
No one but painted sheep to question you
Pencil Notes 