[The title is a quote from The Golden Cauldron by Nicki Scully] written September 13, 1999
I sit beside my mother's bed
as she lies dying.
Our eyes meet: all the words we cannot say,
all the missed connections,
misperceptions,
in this lifetime,
it has always been
this way.
I release the ways
we never got it right;
forgive, no need to hold the anger tight.
Just "I love you"
and her spirit
flies away,
out of the room
into the starry night.
Weeks later,
I am driving
towards her home
when, in slow motion,
across my windshield
flies
a grey owl,
feathered being,
infinitely wise,
as she passes looking
deep into
my eyes.
Time is suspended
on this point
of traveling.
Somehow I feel
a message has been
received
and, somewhere in my spirit sore,
unraveling,
I know all is understood
and I believe.
Owl, swooping sideways
into the forest green,
bird between two worlds,
all that we know and the unseen,
harbinger of change,
of mysteries beautiful and strange,
as our eyes meet
I know an Oracle
has been.
Wise watcher in the night,
friend of the moon,
fly after she
who left my world
too soon.
Fly, messenger
of my belated transformation;
and give my love to my mother
in the Spirit Nation.
What a remarkable and moving experience. I think that sometime there are amazing signs like this that happen after a death.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely gorgeous Sherry!
ReplyDeleteSuch vast connection between the speaker and the owl -- for that fleeting moment, history and the heart are one. Short lines here pare the pain to hold such depths. Such a fitting poem for the challenge. - B
ReplyDeleteThis is so beatiful poem. I love your sensitivity and acceptance of things occult, unknown but suspected. I think it's wonderful that you had an experience like this after your mother's death. Can you still feel her looking out for you?
ReplyDeleteI am glad you had that encounter. Once I was in Minnesota on a tour of Native sites and a Native American told us a story about a massacre. We then had some quiet time to process in a place that was otherwise very peaceful. All of a sudden there was a deer behind me. It helped me come to terms with what I had just heard.
ReplyDeleteSherry, that is indeed a spiritual encounter with the owl. I have had a few as well and I tend to be alert when I see one so, I might hear the message.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful poem. The way in which the natural world sends us messages during peak times in beyond comprehension. There is such strength, beauty and love held within such moments. Suzanne of Mapping Uncertainty
ReplyDeleteYou have such a deep and beautiful spiritual connection with the natural world.
ReplyDeleteAnother beautiful owl and a poignant poem, Sherry, which shows the connection between the different worlds, no words needed. How wonderful that your mother’s spirit came to you as an owl – mine is a robin. I love the lines:
ReplyDelete‘Owl, swooping sideways
into the forest green,
bird between two worlds,
all that we know and the unseen’.
Beautiful poem Sherry! Our moms are always there!
ReplyDeleteI've known several people whose mothers have visited as birds after their deaths. The bird is the vessel to carry souls on their journey across the Milky Way after all.
ReplyDeleteindeed the owls are about ~
ReplyDelete"Fly, messenger
ReplyDeleteof my belated transformation;
and give my love to my mother
in the Spirit Nation"\
The great seel to your poem--message received and reply sent--lovely and of strongly beating heart. I bet you stopped the car.
How wonderful. Love the poem. the presence of the owl so feather close in your words. Beautiful.
ReplyDelete