Five Poems by Duane Herrmann

 

CIRCLE AND CIRCLE

 

A circle of space  

a circle of peace  

in a circle of trees   

surrounded,  

one side a valley,  

the other a meadow,  

I sit.

Birds:  

birds fly, sing  

and pass on.

Clouds silent sail  

sun shines through,  

shadows on the ground  

dance with the wind  

passing through.

I sit,  

wait and pray  

in Mystic Streams.

 

 

THOSE FEW

 

Sensitive souls.

rare, alone,

struggle in

their loneliness

yet

they continue

their effort

to retain their

tenderness

and not stoop

to baseness of others.

This appears unrewarding

yet

when life is done

goodness

will be

evident,

resplendent

GLORY!!!

 

 

OPEN THE DOOR

 

Look within,

deep within

and you will find

Divine

standing, waiting

for you to open

Heart's Door

and welcome in

that which was

always there,

and your loneliness

will be gone.

You are never alone

when you listen

to That Voice

speaking softly

within – waiting

for you.

 

 

LISTEN TO...

 

The Grace of the world

can flow

to you, to me, when

we ourselves are still

enough to listen.

Slow Down.

Stop.

Pause a moment.

Hear the wind,

the leaves.

Is there a bird?

Let it sing to you,

follow its freedom

into the sky

above worries

since all will be well

in Creator's time

when that may be.

 

 

THE WAY

 

Can we trust?

Trust the Force

that is Love

that sustains us.

Trust that no matter

the present pain

the end will be good.

It is all good,

for we gain,

though this moment

we only see pain.

In pain we grow

and growth

is our reason.

Embrace the pain

Through tribulation

is our salvation –

and we mature.

Duane L. Herrmann, internationally published, award-winning poet and historian, has work in print and on-line: Midwest Quarterly, Little Balkans Review, Flint Hills Review, Manifest West, Inscape, Gonzo Press, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, over one hundred other publications, over sixty anthologies, plus a sci fi novel. With branches of his family here before the revolution, and a Native branch even longer, he writes from, these perspectives. 

His full-length collections of poetry include: Prairies of Possibilities, Ichnographical, Praise the King of Glory, No Known Address, Remnants of a Life, Family Plowing, and Zephyrs of the Heart. His poetry has received the Robert Hayden Poetry Fellowship, inclusion in American Poets of the 1990s, Map of Kansas Literature, Kansas Poets Trail, and others. This, despite an abusive childhood embellished by dyslexia, ADHD, cyclothymia, an anxiety disorder, a form of mutism, and now, PTSD. He has carried baby kittens in his mouth, pet snakes, and held conversations with owls, but is careful not to anger them! He was surprised to find himself on a farm in Kansas, and is still trying to make sense of that, but has grown fond of grass waving under wind, trees, and the enchantment of moonlight.