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The Breathless Pause

The anniversary of a death

A poem from The Breathless Pause by Moyra Caldecott

The anniversary of a death
Trying to reconstruct a person
on the anniversary of his death
you must enter
the labyrinth of memory
with its twisting
and its turning,
its sudden shocks,
its false starts
and its blind alleys,
and its sudden revelations
of what you did not know you knew.
Someone emerges
from the shadows,
familiar,
yet unfamiliar…
substantial
yet unsubstantial.
Fading fast
leaving an [...]

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While I was wasting the day

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause:

While I was wasting the day
While I was wasting the day
the grass was growing,
daisies opening,
sunflowers
pushing up tall stems.
While I was wasting the day
the bee pushed its way
into a hundred foxgloves
and went home tired.
Now the light fades.
The rain wets my hair.
I smell honey suckle and musk rose
and take [...]

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The net of pearls

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause:

The net of pearls
Reality is not a straight line
from past to future
through the present…
but a network
of inter connections
going every which way.
When we recognise
the nodes
sitting in a garden at dawn,
watching little finches,
or flowers opening,
a pearl is formed
and shines
even in the night
when we are lonely
and far from home.

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Swan

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause.
Leaving the pond
and the gentle water weeds
a swan rode the ocean.
At first,
because it was evening
and mirror still,
not knowing
the fathoms
of deep and restless currents
stirring beneath
its poised white weight,
it rested easily,
on smooth silver.
But then -
slowly -
it began to feel
the pull and tug of the tide,
the unfamiliar hidden strength
and secret [...]

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Dare Darkness Grab Us

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause:

Dare Darkness Grab Us
Shivering on a very small earth,
the night sky
formidable
with stars,
we pull the comforting blanket
of our love
over us,
and,
curled together,
dare Darkness grab us
and Time scatter us.

Dare Darkness Grab Us
Shivering on a very small earth,
the night sky
formidable
with stars,
we pull the comforting blanket
of our love
over us,
and,
curled together,
dare Darkness [...]

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Revelation

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The William Blake Birthday Book (ISBN 978-0956199904).

Revelation
The dangerous seeing eye
poised to strike at darkness.
No mild recognition,
but terror,
as meaning leaps to meaning,
like lightning on iron mountains.
Words split
in revelation.
The crust of long accustomed
shatters
and an unfamiliar landscape
is revealed.

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Full Moon

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause.
Sleeping
with the silver disk
of the full moon
on my forehead…
light shining
through the thick bone.
Watch how it glints
on mind mirrors,
Scatters shadows,
and seeks at last,
the tiny seed thought
that waits for birth.

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