When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou

When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder,

lions hunker down in tall grasses,

and even elephants lumber after safety.

When great trees fall in forests,

small things recoil into silence,

their senses eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,

the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile.

We breathe, briefly.

Our eyes, briefly, see with a hurtful clarity.

Our memory, suddenly sharpened, examines,

gnaws on kind words unsaid,

promised walks never taken.

Great souls die and our reality, bound to them,

takes leave of us.

Our souls, dependent upon their nurture,

now shrink, wizened.

Our minds, formed and informed by their

radiance, fall away.

We are not so much maddened

as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of

dark, cold caves.

And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms,

slowly and always irregularly.

Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration.

Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us.

They existed. They existed.

We can be.

Be and be better.

For they existed.

*********

On the death of a Beloved by John O’ Donohue

Though we need to weep your loss,

You dwell in that safe place in our hearts

Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.

Your love was like the dawn

Brightening over our lives,

Awakening beneath the dark

A further adventure of colour.

The sound of your voice

Found for us

A new music

That brightened everything.

Whatever you enfolded in your gaze

Quickened in the joy of its being;

You placed smiles like flowers

On the altar of the heart.

Your mind always sparkled

With wonder at things.

Though your days here were brief,

Your spirit was alive, awake, complete.

We look toward each other no longer

From the old distance of our names;

Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,

As close to us as we are to ourselves.

In blackwater woods by Mary Oliver

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal;

to hold it against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it go,

to let it go.

*********

Reading - by Patricia Runkle

When you meet someone deep in grief, slip off your needs and set them by the door

Enter barefoot this darkened chapel, hollowed by loss,

hallowed by sorrow, its gray stone walls and floor.

You, a congregation of one, are here to listen, not to sing.

Kneel in the back pew and make no sound.

Let the candles speak.

*********

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

~ E E Cummings

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
my heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

 *********

Buttercup Hill (for children) by Tara Dominick

On Buttercup Hill I sit,

as the pink clouds play

and heaven sends her strawberry hue over the silent water of the bay.

I sit and think of you

as children skip,

with yellow cups

they giggle in the wind -

Butter wouldn’t melt!

You can roll down Buttercup Hill

even in your mind

rolling through gold,

tumble and turn,

you can breathe in the gold,

even in your mind.

On Buttercup Hill

impossible dreams

seem reachable to me.

The silvery moon

sits hopeful in the sky,

I feel the strength of the wind

on my upturned face

and I think of you.

*********

Blessed be (for sea lovers) by Tara Dominick

The light fades over the lilac sea

It’s soft, the horizon a faint line creating an almost indistinguishable divide,

The waves rhythmic lull my soul’s need, drawing me in,

The flat grey stone wide and warm from the days sun under my feet,

Circles of completion made,

With rocks of different shape and shade and creed,

The white pebbles a ridge held firm before the velvet sea,

And it’s just me

Just me in this moment

Just me adorned by nature’s wide expanse and comforting curl,

I slip into its magic with the quietest of ease

And think

Bless-ed be.

*********

I walk of an evening (For nature lovers) by Tara Dominick

I walk of an evening,

I walk to encompass the colour green

The inevitable charm of rolling hills,

And paths that lead to forest edged- fields,

I trust my ability to navigate the unknown, my inner compass darting this way and that,

moving into the new but always with a sense of home,

I’m blessed with an eye for beauty,

The curve of a brook delights as the water meanders,I have a sense for whimsy, that always finds sweet mysteries along the way,

I take great pleasure in a wooden stile, I like to clamber,

And reach on tiptoes for a blackberry that’s escaped the pickers eye,

I love to take a country lane,

With orange apple trees that line its path,

cobbled walls that invite a sneak peek into country garden life -

I stop for birdsong, to hear it in its purest form,

it’s a privilege to be hedgehopping, with my feathered friends

As the sun sets silently beyond the hill

It seems to know,

That I’ve experienced joy,

I’ve had my fill.

*********

At Least (For ship & sea lovers) by Raymond Carver

I want to get up early one more morning

before sunrise. Before the birds, even.

I want to throw cold water on my face

and be at my work table

when the sky lightens and smoke

begins to rise from the chimneys

of the other houses.

I want to see the waves break

on this rocky beach, not just hear them

break as I did all night in my sleep.

I want to see again the ships

that pass through the Strait from every

seafaring country in the world–

old, dirty freighters just barely moving along

and the swift new cargo vessels

painted every colour under the sun

that cut the water as they pass.

I want to keep an eye out for them.

And for the little boat that plies

the water between the ships

and the pilot station near the lighthouse.

I want to see them take a man off the ship

and put another on board.

I want to spend the day watching this happen

and reach my own conclusions.

I hate to seem greedy–I have so much

to be thankful for already.

But I want to get up early one more morning

And go to my place with some coffee and

Just wait, to see what’s going to happen.

.*********

In Respect for Dad (for father’s) ~ Tara Dominick

Softly softly Father

Surrender to the dream

As waiting Angels gently rally

Round your aching soul

Whose final release is Heaven bound - thank God

And all the stories that have ever mattered resound like toiling bells

The peeling echoes of a life well-lived and loved and found ~

And tears can roll

Like tumbling clowns,

Laughter and sadness filled

A poignant reminder ~

And looking round

The imprint of your heart is etched on every face,

And held in each and every hand

A semblance of your grace.

*********

To have known love (on the loss of a partner)

~ Tara Dominick

To have known love is to have known light,

The light of two Souls,

That shine together in joyous union,

Brighter in their merging,

Wiser for their knowing,

Warmer for the close comfort of their joining,

A loving smile holds the light of love,

Treasured like a trace of gold, against a peace-filled open sky,

For loves capacity knows no bounds,

It holds not a grudge,

It stands firm and brave in the face of fear,

It speaks of acceptance, loyalty and truth,

It is forgiving, forthright, fathomless and fun,

The light does not go out,

Its presence does not fade,

The light goes on, brighter still

Carried forward in the heart,

Forever held safe, in the grace and softness of belonging.

*********

III of Three Elegiac Poems by Wendell Berry

He goes free of the earth.

The sun of his last day sets

clear in the sweetness of his liberty.

The earth recovers from his dying,

the hallow of his life remaining

in all his death leaves.

Radiances know him. Grown lighter

than breath, he is set free

in our remembering. Grown brighter

than vision, he goes dark

into the life of the hill

that holds his peace.

He's hidden among all that is,

and cannot be lost.

*********

I am ready by Tara Dominick

I am ready and open to start the new becoming

I am intricately bound

And held within the great arms of death

I have transitioned,

It feels light, safe

I am receiving the guidance of Angels

Imprinting with feather-like touch the softer realms

Do not worry for me,

I am ready

To open arms

To preside with love

To fully encompass my new everything.

*********

Unchartered skies by Tara Dominick

Float with me to unchartered skies

Silver-lined dreams lace the white-clouds passing by,

We can see river streams, and coloured Rainbows bright,

Caught between un-destined day and reckless loving night,

Climb inside my heart dear one make everything all right -

Bringer of peace

You stretch your banner high,

Name your strength

And let starlight touch each and every heaving sigh,

Rest softly between the lines of life and loss my friend

Cardinal hope remains, the bird lands on a tree

Seen by you, felt by me

An un-denying Grace

A tender moment, of love and loss

In life’s never ending race.

*********