One Poem by Don Edwards

 

The Photo Sits

 

The photo sits beside my bed

Alone in its wooden frame,

The last face I see each night

Before leaving this chaotic world for a time,

Stirring reflected heroic dreams

Dreamt first long before this life began.

 

Something quietly ancient resides here

Sensed within the surrounding field

Of sunflowers tall and golden

Which face down upon her fearless self,

Slender as they in her tragic beauty.

 

She stands among them still, yet powerful,

Her eyes bordered by heavy lashes.

Her body hidden within woollen garments sombre and grey.

Her face feathered by pollen a silent yellow

As a forest of blossoms cloud the sky.

 

The loneliness of the only sits upon her

As it does all those destined to discern life's secret pattern,

Undaunted saviours deified by those

Who follow as each story grows to legend

Amid perspective like a distant light expanding.

 

She is our chthonic earth mother fecund and quick,

Like her sisters labouring since before the flood

To protect us from our clever but blinded selves,

While preparing us for the uncertain but constant fight.

 

Clay and feathers form our house

Of dusk and darkness where we wait

Longing for her guiding nudge, her sustaining kiss,

As we wander lost in our enduring search for one

To nurture us through the fiery days ahead,

Until from her is earned the shining

Bright light of hope for us to follow.

 

With her incarnation, we would move

The river to bury our dead,

Level the mountain to clear our path.

Without her, we may sacrifice life

To please perceived imminence,

And think ourselves wise though with

Nought to prove the matter.  

 

When I awaken within the night's long silence

Astonished by those raptor eyes that pierce my slumber,

I see only and stare long to gain what lessons are found there

Beneath the close slung protection of the golden forest

Before the horrors of daylight lay siege yet again.

Don Edwards has published four books of poetry.  He is the founding member of True Gospel Bookstore which records his poems as songs.  These songs are available on all streaming services as well as on the website, www.truegospelbookstore.com. He lives and writes in Los Angeles.