October 2024 - Darshan - Visions of the Divine

Poem of the Month followers are, in great probability, people who care about the environment and the arts. There is an equally great probability that you, dear readers, are fully aware of the impending election. Therefore, for this last, long month before the first Tuesday in November, we offer you a wise and calming meditation inspired by the beauty of our favorite farm. 

Darshan – Visions of the Divine

The word is the ultimate silence ...

From Suniai by Ajeet Kaur

—by bg Thurston

near the pond’s edge

the stillness of a frog sleeping

with one eye open

I remember now

gazing upon the lilies—

no mud, no lotus

moored to the bridge

a green boat rocks in silence

waiting to be free

bright blue dragonflies

compose cursive poems above

the pond’s reflection

only one day each

orange daylilies trumpet

among the brown reeds

stones stacked upon stones

obey laws of gravity

as countries topple

a plain gray bird sings

his gift—this present moment

of pure melody

the curved stone path

ends where a small black figure

sits, hugging his knees

we live here, amidst

a world forgetting its purpose

lost in our pretense

bronze temple bells hang

no breeze visits the quiet porch

oh, to hear them ring!

bg Thurston lives on a sheep farm in Warwick, Massachusetts. She received her MFA in Poetry from Vermont College in 2002. She has taught poetry courses at Lasell Village, online for Vermont College, and conducts poetry workshops. Her third book of poetry, The Many Lives of Cathouse Farm/Tales of a Rural Brothel, is forthcoming in 2025 from Cervena Barva Press and is the culmination of a decade of historical research about her 1770’s farmhouse.