I recently published a poetry collection, Movements Through the Landscape, and I'm in the process of publishing my book about the gifts and blessings that are given to us by our gardens. It's entitled The Gifts of a Garden. Both of them are available for purchase on Amazon. I thought I'd include the link to my Amazon Author page for those of you who are interested in seeing the books I've published.
Amazon.com: Paula M. De Angelis: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle
This book is a collection of poems originally written in Norwegian and translated into English. I am planning to publish the Norwegian version as an e-book here in Norway.
My brother Ray died seven years ago today. I still remember the shock of hearing about his death. I was at work and it was all I could do to gather together my belongings, call my husband, and find my way home. Seven years. So much has happened in that space of time. Too much to write about here; there is a lifetime of sadness that has occurred during that time. However, his two children seem to have survived the tragedies that unfolded around them during these years and are now flourishing. Ray would have been so proud of them both.
I published a poetry collection in 2019 entitled Cemetery Road dealing with his death and with death generally (https://tinyurl.com/muxk95hb). One of the poems in this collection is called Photo of You in a Manhattan Café . I wrote it in 2017, two years after his death, and am including it here.
And on this day,
the second anniversary
Of your untimely
death
A long-buried
photo of you surfaced
Causing me to
catch my breath
We had met for
lunch in some downtown Manhattan café
That you
frequented—eager to share with me your find
Proud that you
were working there in that melee
Of New Yorkers
milling about with their own kind
The contours of
your face, your photogenic smile
Your youth that
emanates from a decade ago
Your furtive
smile, the one that could beguile
And persuade the
most stubborn of us so
Your hidden
secrets that remained unearthed
You did not give
them willingly away
And those of us
who tried to probe and came away
Unenlightened
frustrated rather gone astray
If walls could
talk, and photos likewise
Perhaps you would
still walk upon this earth
And smile your
stealthy smile for all to know
That happiness was
yours, there was no dearth
This is a poem I wrote in 2013 that later became a part of a poetry collection--Remnants of the Spirit World--that I published in 2014. The collection is available for purchase here: Remnants of the Spirit World: De Angelis, Paula Mary: 9781495376450: Amazon.com: Books
Solstice
Mid-winter night of nights
The shortest day of days
Walk into darkness’ might
And leave behind the light
Darkness falls upon the land
A weary world adrift in dream
Awaits return of sunshine’s hand
That stays its course upon the stream
What shadows lie in wait
For simple souls who traipse
Into their world of hate
Locked beyond the gate
Gather round the blazing fire
Hands clasped against the gloom
Fear of what events transpire
Chanting as dark shadows loom
And so the shadows lie
Cast doubt upon fair souls
Where shadows do not tread
Just souls have found their stead
Gather round the blazing fire
That warms dark frozen souls
Gather round the cleansing pyre
That burns to make them whole
The longest night of nights
Turns slowly toward the sun
Moving on to longer days
In the end the battle won
O’er darkness and the shadow life
Creatures retreat behind the gate
The cracks filled in with blessed light
Sealed against the wall of hate
Copyright 2013 Paula Mary De Angelis
Another poem from my collection--Remnants of the Spirit World (Remnants of the Spirit World: De Angelis, Paula Mary: 9781495376450: Amazon.com: Books). I remember when I first studied the philosophy of Plato in college--I found his theory of the forms both difficult and fascinating. The Forms are described as the most pure (perfect) of all things; they exist outside of mortal time. Somewhat like heaven? Plato held that true knowledge/intelligence was the ability to understand the world of Forms with one's mind, which was controversial because it is not possible to understand perfection using an imperfect mind.
Plato’s dream copyright Paula Mary De Angelis
Being born
From nothing
Taking form
Now something
Outside space and time
Perfection of the Forms
Acquiring a body
Changes rules and norms
Seeking back to birth
Time before in space
Seeking back to earth
Before the fall from grace
Out in the Country by Three Dog Night is one of my favorite songs of all time. When I was in high school and learning how to make short mov...
