GUEST POST "song of the white dove" Beth Anne Boardman #mythopoetry #author #wednesdaywisdom

song of the white dove

the white dove came again.

i love how she sits far back

in the black, tangled branches

of that wild oak tree –

she glows through the falling darkness,

a phantom of herself….

she used to frighten me,

appearing unannounced

at nightfall….

you’re not from around here, are you?

i thought at her,

that first night….

i’ve tried to make up all kinds of stories

about why she visits when she does….

a harbinger of death?

of change?

but every day changes and dies,

as do we….

her song differs from

those of the mourning doves

that have surrounded me

since birth –

(my father taught me their song)

softer than theirs,

her song floats featherlike,

unmournful….

it curls

wispy

tender

wraithlike

(holy….)

we have watched each other

for years now….

through black ash

and endless smoky grey –

we are dual-captured

by blue-white

myriad starfields --

(our secret)

and still,

her song stops me midstep

midbreath

midquestion --

like an incognito

gasp of surprise….

then i recall an elder’s words

and realize:

she sings

not as a warning of death,

but as an

encouragement

to keep dying….


©2017 song of the white dove by Beth Anne Boardman for mythopoetry.com
©2017 song of the white dove Beth Anne Boardman All Rights Retained

_____________
NOTES

The last two lines recall the wisdom of Chungliang al Huang, who appears in Finding Joe, a film by Patrick Takaya Solomon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beth Anne Boardman, RN, MA, PhD lives in California and New Hampshire. She travels and lectures on the Mythology of Sport; Women and Myth; and the Alchemy of Adolescence (her dissertation topic), in addition to consulting as a writer to websites.  

Recently, Beth has served on the board of the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association and as Regional Coordinator for local alumni. Her career spans work as a registered nurse, the study of world dance and music, and the profound joy of raising two children.

BLOG

For stories and essays on creative life and culture visit Dr. Beth Ann Boardman at MYTHMUSE

POETRY BLOG

POEMS FROM THE OTHERWORLD

GUEST POST "reconciling grey" by Beth Anne Boardman #amwriting #poetry #authorslife

reconciling grey

sometimes the world’s beauty

seems to vanish

in one whoosh….

death bookends life,

fate turns on its dime,

and rugs shift

under our feet….

poems, words, colors, disappear

metaphor leaves….

shall we hope for no more happiness

if gifts come

on the sharp edge

of a knife?

•

this morning

i stood on my front steps

and this foreign wind

played in my hair,

ran all around my face

and made me dizzy

birds sang confusingly

of nests and mates

and territories….

the sun shone strangely

springlike

and i brought in the laundry….


© 2017  reconciling grey by Beth Anne Boardman  on mythopoetry.com
© 2017  reconciling grey Beth Anne Boardman All Rights Retained

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beth Anne Boardman, RN, MA, PhD lives in California and New Hampshire. She travels and lectures on the Mythology of Sport; Women and Myth; and the Alchemy of Adolescence (her dissertation topic), in addition to consulting as a writer to websites.  

Recently, Beth has served on the board of the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association and as Regional Coordinator for local alumni. Her career spans work as a registered nurse, the study of world dance and music, and the profound joy of raising two children.

BLOG

For stories and essays on creative life and culture visit Dr. Beth Ann Boardman at MYTHMUSE

POETRY BLOG

POEMS FROM THE OTHERWORLD

GUESTPOST "Oh Mother, Mother" by Beth Anne Boardman #amwriting #SundayMorning #poetry

TROPHONIUS & THE BEES
photo courtesy Beth Anne Boardman

       OH MOTHER, MOTHER... 

in grief

sometimes

i cannot say more....

‘mother of gentleness’

‘mother of mercy’

‘mother of kindness’

visit me....

give me the vision

of the next few minutes –

remind me to breathe....

remind me of your presence....

remind me that these events

that shake me –

that topple my world

into pain –

remind me,

oh mother,

the sun will rise....

the sun will rise....

and oh mother, mother –

you will show me how to begin again....

©2017 Oh Mother, Mother Beth Anne Boardman mythopoetry.com

©2017 Oh Mother Mother Beth Anne Boardman All Rights Retained 

____________

notes
In mythology Trophonius or Trophonios is the story of a man who is swallowed up by the earth and transformed into the oraculur demigod or daimon (spirit) of a cave near the town of Lebadeia or Boiotia.

Trophonius translates  as "nourisher of the mind" from the Greek tropheô words and noos. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beth Anne Boardman, RN, MA, PhD lives in California and New Hampshire. She travels and lectures on the Mythology of Sport; Women and Myth; and the Alchemy of Adolescence (her dissertation topic), in addition to consulting as a writer to websites.  

Recently, Beth has served on the board of the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association and as Regional Coordinator for local alumni. Her career spans work as a registered nurse, the study of world dance and music, and the profound joy of raising two children.

BLOG

For stories and essays on creative life and culture visit Dr. Beth Ann Boardman at MYTHMUSE

POETRY BLOG

POEMS FROM THE OTHERWORLD