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Friday, October 22, 2010

Edensong


An after-concert reflection . . .

At the eighth hour
The doors opened to a
Garden of art
Where flowers like notes
Bloomed in exquisite colors
Encompassing the rainbow
From serenity to ashest brown
To sparkling gold
And tender blue.

Hearing each flower bloom
With such pure hues
And delicate shape
I found my soul barefoot
And running free in the
Splendor of the tossing
Vibrations and fragrant wind.

Grand, clanging celebration
Poured glorious light
Into cracks of my tired mind
While precious welcome
Built a spirited house
Of prayer and praise.

Embraced by petal-soft pearls
Of such richness and joy
I noiselessly found my way home
With the fragrance of
Evening song
Lingering
Like a pinned red rose*
On the mantle of my heart.


Nancy Gerst © 2010

After attending the Fall Concert of the James Madison Singers and Chorale
in the new Forbes Performing Arts Center, at James Madison University,
October 21, 2010. Dr. Patrick Walders, Director of Choral Activities, is
now DCA at San Diego State University.

*Seniors each had a red rose pinned to their dress or tux jacket.

James Madison School of Music 

San Diego State University School of Music and Dance 

Monday, October 18, 2010

Echoes

A poem about hope in the dark places of life.
In honor of the thirty-three miners rescued in Chile on October 14, 2010

Echoes of a life once lived
Haunt the darkness
As days of buried hope
Assemble alongside
Tears and dreams
In rocky-place room.

Will wild little things made big
By pressed in places
Naw their way deep into my soul
And leave imprints that
Elude the eraser of time?

Then I hear it―
The echo of hope,
Of pounding dreams,
Relentless pursuit,
Moving, looming
Near to my gloomy
Desolate tomb.

The voice of the Hero
Disquiets the night;
Rescue feels raw,
Bloody, rough-hewn.
Do my wide eyes assist
The maddening quest
For freedom and light,
For death of this night?

Then I hear it―
The echo of hope,
Of pounding dreams,
Relentless pursuit,
Moving, looming
Near to my gloomy
Desolate tomb.

© Nancy Gerst, 2010