Tag: death

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 7, 20205:07 pm

Waves

I hasten out to the beach
Envelope in hand
Fumbling to get at its contents
I don’t even notice the surf

The wave peters out
Just before it reaches me
Its last energy spent
As bubbling foam dissipates

My muscles relax
Tension leaves my body
While the ocean recedes
Back down the beach

I turn over the paper again
Check the wording again
The test was negative

The test was negative

I’m going to live

Another wave comes
Stronger than the last
Soaking just one shoe

Which makes a delightful squish
As I stride back up to the house
Good tidings in hand

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMar 28, 20207:00 am

Blur

It came as a shock
In the blur of a moment
So much could be lost

Poetry by Patrick JenningsFeb 16, 202011:07 pm

Pistol River Middle, Gold Beach, Oregon Coast Highway, Oregon, United States of America

Shoreline ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #220

Sooner or later
We all come to the shoreline
Beyond which lies a great unknown
A deep, unfathomable darkness

Most of us are allowed a choice there
To dive right in with more or less grace
Or cling to the land against the inexorable tides

No matter the choice, whether or no we have one
We are all, inevitably, drawn down into that great depth

I rather like to think a beautiful light awaits us there

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 26, 20208:10 pm

Tourists, Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California, United States of America

Tourists ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #217

Yea, though I walk
Through this valley of death
I will fear no hardship
Among these many tourists with me
While the road and the cafe comfort me
No shadow falls to Earth
But footfalls

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 30, 20195:35 pm

The Road Below, Father Crowley Overlook, Panamint Valley, Death Valley National Park, California, United States of America

Extremes of a Year’s Journeys

The road leads down
A scabrous red cut
Into a valley of death

The azure sky
Suspended upon its downy bed
Of purest white

Extremes of a year’s journeys
Found in a single switchback descent
Just ahead of a desert sunset

Somehow, I find
All of it
Beautiful

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 5, 201912:48 pm

Vital Tumult

Have you ever noticed
How exciting the tumult is
The uproar and confusion
How vital and present it feels

We battle through it
We quell the uproar
We resolve the confusion
We overcome

And it feels good
Even in the midst
Of the worst of times
These are the best of times

So I wonder how it is
We fail to acknowledge
Just how much
We love a good war

We are a species
Of adrenaline junkies
Bent on our own destruction
Because it makes us feel alive

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 14, 20184:10 pm

Reign of Tears

Tears reign
Glittering
From the cheeks
Of multitudes

Driven to despair
By the shepherds
Of fear

Reeking of the violence
Wrought by anger

And the platitudes of righteousness

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 1, 20189:01 am

Fallen

Fallen colour fades
Silent soldiers lying still
After the battle

Poetry by Patrick JenningsNov 20, 201810:08 pm

wizened and weathered, badlands, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

Wizened & Weathered

Wizened and wisened
I find myself
At the end of my path
There to discover
Though I’ve forged my own trail
Made my own way through the wilderness
We all come together
In the end
At the infinite infinitesimal of oneness
Whether by design
Or default

Poetry by Patrick JenningsNov 11, 20182:20 pm

Fallen Maple Leaf, Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Remembrance ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #161

For all of you
Who’ve gone to ground
Fallen in a season
For which life
Had not yet come around
Bleakest autumn
Fell upon your spring

I remember
And I write

Words seeking time
In some future dream
When the Flanders torch
Shall not be passed
We will no longer ask
The young to die
For causes wrought
Upon the lie
Of righteousness

A time when poppies bloom
In their rightful spring
Not this remorseful
Autumnal rite
No longer red
No blood be spilled
But lovely white
Our peace fulfilled