Category Archives: poetry

poem: a paean to well being

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poem: a paean to well being

grateful for the relief
a day can bring

after the month of August
unbearably hot, wet, humid

cataclysmic, catastrophic
climate change surrounding us

yesterday walking out into a Fallish day
of sunshine and fresh air

our longest walk in awhile
in a cool breeze rejoicing

in the evening the home therapist
discharges Cathey

impressed as she completes ninety steps
marching in place in two minutes

the therapist delighted with Cathey’s
smile, laugh, and determination

she says ‘you remind me
of my mama’ with a smile

a palpable sense of relief
and well being lifts us up

deep gratitude for a beautiful day
and the good health to enjoy it

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
September 4, 2021

photos Herb Stone

Author’s note: Cathey, my wife, is recovering well from
a stroke and recently completed her in home physical therapy.

We continue to walk and exercise daily.

poem: muddled

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poem: muddled

deep introspection escapes me
these days as my attention strays
hither and yon

a red dawn morning heralding
the destruction of hurricanes
as high winds and heavy rains approach

headlines of violence and death
abroad as families and children
scramble for safety amid darkness

news of dear vaccinated friends
fighting Covid infections
in this morphing pandemic

and our beloveds’ challenges
of suffering and healing
in these epochal times

the thread whipping about
I am adrift, now grabbing,
now hanging on for dear life

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
September 1, 2021

photos by Herb Stone
‘Red Dawn’
‘Tropical Depression Ida Blows Through’

poem: ‘I missed the party in the field’ (let us stay just a little bit longer)

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poem: ‘I missed the party in the field’
(let us stay just a little bit longer)

my beloved sleep-wakes
souls visiting her dreams
elders surrounding her
she stirs perplexed

‘I missed the party in the field’
she mumbles to me that

her parents are having a big party
in the big wheat field

these images calling to her:
there is always a place
where you belong
and a home welcoming you

my sweet, the party only begins,
upon your arrival, at the time,
whenever you are ready, but now
let us stay here together just a little bit longer

the two of us practicing
mutual radical grace and radical love
for all beloved beings upon this Earth
all walking each other Home together

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 27, 2021

photo by author
‘Walking each other home’

Author’s note: My wife’s lucid dreams
now occupy a liminal space in our aging
together as she experiences the effects
of Alzheimers and recovers from a recent
mild stroke. We will celebrate our 50th.
year wedding anniversary in November
2021.

poem: Autumn’s cusp

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poem: 

            Autumn’s 

                                cusp

‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

butterflies

                   dragonflies

                                        and bees

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

in the wild flowers

                                   twinning vines

                                                               and leaves

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

darting bird

                      in the hedgerow

                                                    tweeting

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

                                                     prescient Autumn

                                                                                  our second Spring

                                                                                                             slowly creeping

***************************************************************

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 22, 2021

photos by author
at Seven Mile Creek

poem: ‘I am a fighter’

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poem: ‘I am a fighter’

she tells the doctors,
nurses, and therapist,
anyone listening,
after the stroke

a fighter
from the very beginning,
the next to youngest,
in a family of ten siblings

gathering eggs from the coop,
eating tomatoes from the vine,
caring for her farm pets,
helping daddy with the cows

driving the Ford tricycle tractor
in the farm fields
as a young teen
in her pinafore dress

then at fourteen, open spine surgery
for scoliosis (the scars still visible)
and a long stay in a rehab facility
and a year in a body cast

she returned to high school
becoming a cheerleader
ready for any challenge
life might throw at her

the country girl coming
to the big city for college
leaving after the first year
beginning a forty-eight year career

many a night she danced away,
so full of energy,
at the local music venue,
admirers looking on

married at age twenty seven,
nursing their premie to life,
rising up her career ladder,
helping raise two granddaughters

she meets evey challenge
in the second half of life:
loss, illness, change, isolation
declaring ‘I am a fighter’

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 14, 2021

photo: family archive

Author’s note: An ode to my wife,
following her stroke from which
she is recovering nicely and with
great determination

poem: in the flow embracing the sweet spot in aging

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poem: in the flow embracing
the sweet spot in aging 

in the reprieve
following the onslaught
of our mortality

detecting their is
a sweet spot in the tartness
of our aging

things s l o w  d   o   w   n
having more intimate time
for one another

our rambles shrink
to a home and a field
comfortable in its familiarity

there is a touch
of surrealism
expanding our consciousness

a touch of lament,
prophetic vision, and hope
in things to come

and a renewed creativity
witnessing the wisdom
one has hard earned

so now in this in-between place
coming into one’s Self fully
and walking one another Home

faith sustains us preparing
for unseen things to come
in our Cosmic Journey

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 7, 2021

photos by Herb Stone

Author’s note: I wrote this poem
just after my wife’s stroke from which
she is now recovering nicely despite
its challenges. Our 50th. year
anniversary approaching in November.

poem: and now it is in the hǣlan

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poem: and now it is in the hǣlan

and so in our aging
suffering the upward fall again
in this cruciform world both broken and whole

holding the tensions deep in our souls
resolving them within
Reconciling, Transforming, Creating the new thing

being present with ‘what is’
seeing how it can bring us closer
to renewed wholeness: Mind, Body, Spirit

once again finding our Self
re-balancing the tensions of
Creation, Life, and Love

mindful of Relationships, Community, Cosmos
responsible for hǣlan one another
with compassionate intent (not duty)

now let the hǣlan begin
all in harmony Self, Neighbor, Creator
walking each other Home again

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 4, 2021

art images: Shamanic Healing Hands Art
by Maria Sabina

Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law
Illumination in the Gospel
of the Abbess Hitda of Meschede

Author’s note: hǣlan is Old English for
healing. This poem is inspired upon my
wife experiencing a stroke from which she
is currently recovering nicely but not without its challenges. 

poem: a favorite place to meditate

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poem: a favorite place to meditate

chin deep in the lake’s estuary
sitting on its white sandy bottom
the tea colored water flowing

light and flickering shadows,
ripples and swift currents,
warmth and cooling breeze

consciousness expanding out
in the stillness and flow
oneing with Cosmic Creation

at deep peace
in the heavenly bosom
I am Oneing all in All

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 1,2021

photos by Herb and Cathey Stone,
August 1, 2018, Draper Coastal Dune Lake

Estuary, Gulfview Heights Beach, FL

poem: time+space=creation

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poem: time+space=creation

awakening with a poem on the tongue
and the great expanse of time surrounding us
this tableau for our imagination and creativity

our human form being here now
floating on this Gaian speck of life
the Great Cosmic Universe spins

all becoming a model of creative expression
(the page, the canvas, the clay, the notes, the performance)
this mutable reality of materials, energy, consciousness

we write, paint, sculpt, sing, and dance
re-connecting us to the true meaning of Life together
both human and divine, immanent and transcendent

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
July 26, 2021

art unattributed
Aboriginal dreamtime art