Within the Breath
White flowers on lemon balm, basil
our minds wander amidst spices
through consciousness of well-being
focused, present, a small flower spider
a soft peppermint leaf, a crow feather
and all the blackbirds gathered below us
red-winged, solid black, sheer garnet, obsidian
in which one sings, one holds nothing
except the song, the singing
symmetrical, immediate
green tea, prayer wheel, snail labyrinth
the soul is sensitive to images
to what is in us, the hemoglobin
platelets, the resonance of cellular memory
to what is before us, the light gathered
crow, staircase, basil, rose
this evening we face the west, sun dappled faces
maple leaves, blackbirds, shadows, breath
in which one breathes, one holds everything.
— Gwendolyn Morgan
Honorable mention Elizabeth Bolton Poetry Prize
Written River: A Journal of Eco-poetics, Summer Solstice 2013, p. 53
http://hiraethpress.com/written-river/issue-archive/
http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/575202?__r=79210
forthcoming in Crow Feathers, Red Ochre, Green Tea, Hiraeth Press, 2013.
