Tag: poems

Kaddish for Death and Childbirth

by cfults, posted in Poem, Uncategorized

Kaddish for Death and Childbirth

Her breath rose and fell

spaces between in and out growing wider

Gasping for air, heartbeat shallow and fast

feeble voice barely heard

pink skin turning purple

finally, breath stopped, heart raced a few seconds, concluded its beating.

The doors of body closed.

There is no return.

May the rising sun sanctify and bless Your name

We sing praises to the Holy One

            for the life of one we loved so long

Gasping for air, crying on an inhale

learning the in and out rhythm of breath

The fast heartbeat that slows with growth

purple skin turning pink

lungs growing a louder voice.

The gate of womb shut.

There is no return.

May the falling rain sanctify and bless Your name.

            We sing praises to the Holy One

            for the new life we have been blessed with.

May the Lord of doors and gates

Going out and coming in

acorn and oak

child and old woman

bless our hearts with unceasing wonder

as we witness the commonness of mystery and holiness.

May Your name be praised into all eternity.

© photo and poem by caf

Noticing

by cfults, posted in Poem, Uncategorized 

I’ve been noticing:
Many of the acorns are tiny this year
the waters are full and rushing
waterfalls are full and loudly vocal
the sun is sometimes red in the morning
the moon has not been so visible
frogs continue to croak
dragonflies still hunt mosquitos
I remain in love with cows
mountains continue to inspire me
we are rich in slugs
the spiders have been busy webbing
mornings have been foggy
mushrooms are abundant
the trees are lushly vibrant
I still miss my Mom
I am so grateful for this life.
If you keep noticing you will reach gratitude
that overflows as a water fall streams from an overfull lake or 
a river spills its banks from too much sustenance
soaking the ground of your life
the banks of your heart
and the rocks of eternity.

© film and poem by caf

Clouds

by cfults, posted in Poem

sunrise_edited-1

Clouds

The weatherman forecast rain
but there is only this pink and yellow morning
and clouds glowing white on the bottoms.

A jaguar’s face becomes a wolf
with glowing eyes in the billows
as a rainy-day prediction turns golden.

Maybe later it will rain,
but right now she says
I think butterflies must have been born
on a day like this.

©photo and poem by caf

After Night

by cfults, posted in Poem, Uncategorized

sunrise

After Night

After a long black night
pink and white clouds
yellow sun
dark branches waving
against a glowing sky.

Icy waters slide over stones
spring winds rustle the chimes
as she watches the waking forest and fields.

She says the day love and joy were born
has come again this morning
to be remembered
to renew Spirit in the world.

Miracles live within each other.

After dark storms this day returns
as much a miracle
as the breath
and heart that live
within the blue bird on Bennett Hill.

©photo and poem by caf

Great Island Trail

by cfults, posted in Poem, Uncategorized

P1180812_edited-1

Great Island Trail

On Great Island Trail a dolphin
rested in the shallows
her body blackened by death
flukes bobbing in the froth
head lying on the shore.

Foam rinsed her vacant eye sockets
washing her memories out to sea
through waves and sandy ripples.

Sand and sea claimed her
held her joys and sorrows
Plankton drifted, awash in her dreams.
The sea, her Mother, will not forget her.

On the shore, fossils, memories of prehistory,
now belong to stones.
And when we finally lay down
we also will belong to something larger.

The soil of our planet lives in a universe
of expanding time.

So, we, like the dolphin, become limitless
and the stars and heavens
and Earth, our Mother, will not forget us.

©photo and poem by caf

Talking to the Big Bear

by cfults, posted in Poem, Uncategorized

September Moon REDUCED SIZE_72

Talking to the Big Bear

Outside at night
admiring the seven stars of the Dipper as it floats over her house
she asks
how do you stay together in your constellation
and not drift apart, leave each other, find new stars to align with?

The Dipper answers:

Bear sings to crow
crow talks to others.

Seeds ride the butterfly’s wings
Butterflies flap their wings and worlds collide
Stars move around the galaxy
but never leave home.
There is a sun in everyone’s life –
a mooring to oppose the random
flight of wild freedom.

Evolving through plankton, amoeba, dinosaurs,
bears, lobsters, butterflies, mountains and trees
you own their DNA and you know them.
Through them you are anchored to earth
and through earth to the universe.

There is no family if not these tribes
of nomads,
these clans of non-relations,
an expanding, elaborate
lineage of dissimilars
that hold the bloodline for all of us.

And you are part of a dynasty and royal house,
knotted together by interlacing
webs and snarls of lacework,
fastened to the destiny of the universe,
like the stars of the bear that sail over your house.

© photo and poem caf

A Mother Tree

by cfults, posted in Poem, Uncategorized

You attended my first breath,
I sat by you for your last
and everything in between
was how we were
in the world together.

How I miss you now.
I think I see your feet sticking
of my jeans, but it’s only me
wearing your shoes.

In the forest
a Mother Tree …
her spirit flies
as her sapling cries.

©poem and photo by caf

Moon Flower

by cfults, posted in Poem, Uncategorized

full moon

Moon Flower

I sat under the flower as she grew upon a vine of stars
in the night sky
her glistening white stamens
and yellow pistils
nestled among pink, purple, yellow and white softness of bloom.

Fragile
and calm in her unfolding
she offered her light to the world,
shyly, then boldly
then fully.

This blossom of the night
begins as a seed in darkness
and grows to full splendor under the sun,
a  morning glory blooming at midnight in winter,
whispers hope of spring.

©photo and poem by caf

She is not Gone, i said

by cfults, posted in Poem, Uncategorized

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The Poet

Someone said the poet is dead
she was old and sick and died

But, I said, I went out
and saw her in the forest
among the trees.

No, they said,
she passed away
it’s in all the papers.

But that cannot be, I replied.
I saw her in the meadow
admiring the grasshoppers
and feeding them sugar water.

You’re wrong, they insisted.
She is no longer here.

She is not dead, I retorted
I heard her this morning
she wakened early and went to fly with the geese

Can you not hear her calling to the world
how we all belong
and live forever?

She is not gone while we remember to notice the fields
and the swans on the black river,
while we wake early to sing to the day.

She is not gone.

© poem and photo by caf

A Morning Blessing

by cfults, posted in Poem

P1090624A Morning Blessing

In morning sunlight
in early winter
when hills are browning,
with mindful breath she breathes the wind
with sacred song she woos the waters
and begs the trees and the Spirit within

bless the beasts, she whispers
the possums, porcupines, woodchucks,
the birds and bugs and worms,
bears and bobcats
gorillas and fish,
and also, humans.

Bless the plants
who in winter store holy life
in their roots
and bring it forth as
new growth in the spring.

May all beings live their lives
free from turmoil
may the Earth be always blessed
Amen.

©photo and poem by caf