Greetings

1. Bird:

Yellow streaks on face and body

Zipped just in front of my face
As I came out of Whole Foods
Landed in a heavenly bamboo bush
Sitting among the red berries right next to me

He sat for several seconds
But flew away when the camera came out

2. Monarch:

Never seen a butterfly zip around so fast
Barely moving its wings
All over the front of our house
From one side to another
Multiple times

3. Hummingbird: 

Resting on top of a tree
Then flying to plants in our yard
By front and back windows
Where we sat separately

Back to the tree to rest in front of me

From her book, Grieving is Loving

Once upon a time, the world was right.

And when the world was right,

our hearts beat together. 

The future included us. 

Together.

And when the world was right,

I could speak your name without pangs,

and all my plans centered on our togetherness. 

And when my well-planned world contained you, 

it was a beautiful life. 

I never planned for this apartness. 

I never planned for the collapsing grief of your absence.

I never imagined, and still cannot, 

that this could be my life. 

I just miss my right world. 

I just miss you. 

-Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

Brunch guest

 

The Unbroken

There is a brokenness
out of which comes the unbroken,
a shatteredness
out of which blooms the unshatterable.
There is a sorrow 
beyond all grief which leads to joy
and a fragility
out of whose depths emerges strength.

There is a hollow space
too vase for words
through which we pass with each loss,
out of whose darkness
we are sanctified into being. 

There is a cry deeper than all sound
whose serrated edges cut the heart
as we break open to the place inside
which is unbreakable and whole, 
while learning to sing. 

-Rashani Réa

pieces

I watched her drop the mirror
saw her face adopt the fear
that she would now been destined
to bad luck for seven years

but she looked at the pieces
there were hundreds, maybe more
and she noticed how they caught the light
in ways they'd not before

the light was bouncing everywhere
all spirited and bright
a hundred little mirrors
bringing all that light to life

so she picked up all the pieces
whilst she still had every chance
and she turned her bad luck
into opportunities to dance

and if you ever watched her
you would notice how she smiled
and how she moved and shimmered
like her soul had come alive

and if you didn't know her secret
you would not consider
that the glitterball she danced around
was once a broken mirror

-Becky Hemsley

Space

(I wrote a poem about how I'm feeling.)

My heart is a fist

clenched and forgotten

pounding tombstones in my chest

It is an anchor

ruthless, relentless

dragging me into the deep

It is a compass

desiring true north

but finding only chaos

My heart is a storm

Its raging rain clouds

shatter puddles beneath me

In my solitude

a shooting star

unwelcome and uncaring

sears my darkest space

My heart is on fire

I am undone

electrified within

A void searching 

for a soul in the night

Desperately seeking

the heart

that once mirrored mine

In the forest