Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 21, 20168:14 am

Roadside Ghost Gums, Simpson Desert, Stuart Highway, Near Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Australia

The Ghosts I’ve Left Behind

In all these years of travel
Geographically
Professionally
Personally
Emotionally
I’ve stopped, from time to time
To look back and count
All the ghosts I’ve Left Behind

I’ve wondered, too
Is this the nature of travel
Or the nature of me

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 20, 20164:23 pm

Encroaching Ice

Daylight wanes
Night encroaching
Like the ice
On the lake
Like the snow
On the mountains
Like the years
On my life

Transitions
Whether, in the end
For the better
Or for the worse
A matter of perception

But in transitions
Themselves, I always find
Some beauty
Large or small

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 20, 20167:00 am

Howe Sound, Sea to Sky Highway, Porteau Cove Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Aftermath

In a big country
Even a storm’s aftermath
Writes itself large
On the landscape

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 19, 20165:29 pm

Sea to Sky

In the land of Sea to Sky
When clouds hang low
They obscure the mountains high
While down below
The world seems grey
The sun is there
It picks its way
Highlights on the ocean waves
Amber on horizon waits
While snow still clings
To rocky slopes
I drive on home
To ponder tropes

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 18, 20169:35 am

Forbidden Places, Tantalus Mountain Range, Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia, Canada

Forbidden ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #68

I sidle up
To places forbidden
Marvel and wonder
So much grander
More formidable
Than I

The places
The people
Who challenge them
Whether they succeed
Or fail

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 17, 20167:00 am

White Caps and Sea Mist, Howe Sound, Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada

Whitecaps & Sea Mist

A vicious wind blows
Down the sound
Stripping the heat
From my hands
From my face
Kicking up whitecaps
Stealing their spray
Making a misty glow
To cradle Islands
And mountains
On a cold winter day

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 16, 20167:00 am

Whistler Valley

Day comes to end
In hyper-blue
And gleaming amber

Icy wind rips
Up the valley floor
Churning turquoise and obsidian

Beneath the placid azure
Of a witness sky
Waiting for the stars

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 15, 20167:00 am

Tantalus Mountain Range, Near Squamish, British Columbia, Canada

Incomprehensible Perfection

I’ve spent all my life
Learning the craft of creation
But how can mere reason
And artistry compete
With the simple gestures
Great and small
Of nature

I have just the small talent
To capture in image
And evoke in word
An incomprehensible
Perfection

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 14, 201610:27 pm

Whistler Mountain and Alta Lake, From Rainbow Park, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

Whistler and Alta

The winter wind
Whisks down the valley
Holding the ice at bay

But the ducks
Won’t have much longer

To paddle in open water

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 14, 20167:00 am

Armchair of Golden Dreams

Sometimes I just sit back
In my armchair of golden dreams
To take in all the splendour
The view from there is wonderful

To a practitioner of Tendai
Everything is wonderful

~ Saichō
9th Century Japanese Buddhist monk
Founder of Tendai school of Buddhism