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.