Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

A Random Act of Poetry for #raopoetryday

October 7, 2015 By Sandra Heska King

moon rising - SEEK THE SONG

 

 

 

Four years ago, a still unknown someone gifted me a writer’s retreat at Laity Lodge in the Texas Hill Country. I got the call while sitting outside at a nursing home with my mom who had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor following a fall. The only workshop still open was a poetry workshop led by Julia Kasdorf.

Poetry? Yikes!

What follows was originally posted four years ago yesterday in response to a Random Act of Poetry prompt from Tweetspeak Poetry. I’m reposting it now (with only a couple edits to the first part) to celebrate Random Acts of Poetry Day. #raopoetryday

 

Frio - 2

 

How Did I End Up Here?

How did I end up here

in cedar-scented sacred breeze

benched above a liquid mirror

where I share space with a black squirrel?

I’ve plucked some word fruit from the white bowl,

a line from which I’m supposed to extract juice,

to write from it without lifting pen from paper.

“You are intended to write every poem you write,”

she said. Really? I’m intended to write this?

“It shall be sure forever as the moon’s return

faithful as the skies remain . . .”

And I began to write.

moon - 09-30-15

 

 

Forever as the Moon

It shall be sure forever as the moon’s return

faithful as the skies remain, the song of the bird,

the bird with one song that sings that song

over and over and over,

the song of the man in the moon.

I stop and seek the song

in the lines, the lines of desire,

designer lines engraved in my heart,

a magical maze of delight

that lead me to the song,

the song of the man in the moon.

I seek the song in my desire,

and I desire the song in my seeking.

It shall be sure forever as the moon’s return

faithful as the skies remain

that I sing the song of the bird,

the song of the man in the moon,

the one song

over and over and over.

And there are rumors of water.

It will not end up here.

 

My mom’s brain biopsy showed an aggressive malignant tumor, and she died eight weeks after I returned. During those last weeks, we spent a lot of time outside gazing at the man in the moon.

Random-Acts-of-Poetry-Orange-Wall

 

In the stillness,

Sandy

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Blog, poetry

Comments

  1. Lux says

    October 8, 2015 at 6:19 am

    I’m sorry about your mom. But what a way to spend the remaining days, huh?
    I think I would rather gaze at the beauty of heavens too than worry about other things.
    Beautiful poetry.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      October 8, 2015 at 8:59 am

      Thanks, sweet friend. Yes, we are coming up on the 4th anniversary of her passing. But I’m convinced that time above the river was orchestrated in preparation for what was to come. 🙂

  2. Lorretta says

    October 8, 2015 at 10:07 am

    (sigh) You make my soul breathe with all the wonder of life and even in view of the darker colored hues of pain around it’s edges. Thanks…. and I’m going to extend some random acts of poetry beyond the 7th because, poetry.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      October 8, 2015 at 7:26 pm

      Ah yes… because, poetry. 😀

  3. Martha Orlando says

    October 8, 2015 at 10:33 am

    Your poem made me want to sing right along with you. Beautiful, Sandra!
    Blessings!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      October 8, 2015 at 7:23 pm

      Sing, Martha, sing! 😀

  4. Dea says

    October 8, 2015 at 10:54 am

    I know you miss her, Sandy… and I know you are still singing. I’m thinking this poetry was not so random… hugs

    • Sandra Heska King says

      October 8, 2015 at 7:22 pm

      So much love, dear Dea.

  5. Lynn D. Morrissey says

    October 8, 2015 at 11:50 am

    Sandy, you’ve written about your beloved mother before, and I’m so very sorry. I know you will never stop loving and missing her. I’m glad you know that she is with Jesus, and that you were able to receive God’s healing gift of poetry both to prepare you for her loss and to comfort you when she found herself, face to face, in her Savior’s embrace. this is such an exquisite poem. God used poetry to help heal me when Daddy died. It was a smaller container for overwhelming grief. how I miss him!
    You’ve inspired me to post one of my favorite poems (that I’ve written 🙂 ) on my FB page in honor of the day. I was unaware of it. Bless you for your wonderful gifts and for sharing them so generously!
    Love
    Lynn

    • Sandra Heska King says

      October 8, 2015 at 7:21 pm

      Oh, heading over there now… 😀

      Thanks so much, Lynn, for your always encouraging words. xo

      BTW, today is National Poetry Day…

  6. Kelly Greer says

    October 8, 2015 at 11:59 pm

    Tears and sighs Sandra. So beautifully written and how tender are your memories. I am sorry that you had to let go of your Mom. The Lord was was watching out for you and giving you this gift of poetry to bring comfort and to remember and maybe even to let go again and again and remember. ((Hugs))

    • Sandra Heska King says

      October 9, 2015 at 8:07 am

      Crazy how God works, right? Hugs back to you, dear Kelly, and for the inspiration you’ve been/are in your own journeys.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

Happy first day of fall from my backyard to yours. Happy first day of fall from my backyard to yours.
Just another backyard photo… Just another backyard photo…
From my backyard tonight. From my backyard tonight.
Just another sunset. Just another sunset.
“I would like people to remember of me, how inex “I would like people to remember of me, how inexhaustible was her mindfulness.” ~ Mary Oliver in “ A Little Ado About This and That.”
Current situation. Current situation.
“This spark of life that wavest wings of gold” “This spark of life that wavest wings of gold” ~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson in “Ode to a Butterfly”
🦋
We pulled all the milkweed because it just could not support all the caterpillars. They were eating it bare and most of them died because they ran out of food. This one butterfly found this one lone volunteer.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright futur "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." ~ E.B. White (as quoted on today's page in my Franklin Planner)
"May you experience each day as a sacred gift wove "May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder." ~ John O'Donohue in "For Presence" from To Bless the Space Between Us
🌴
Tri-colored heron stalking breakfast in my backyard.
“. . neighbor’s tree hangs heavy with mangoes “. .  neighbor’s tree hangs heavy with mangoes. They are moving in a week. They say a family from Belarus bought the house. I hope they don’t care much for mangoes.”
**
“Beautiful Sweet Things” at https://sandraheskaking.substack.com/
"People do not grow old. When they cease to grow t "People do not grow old. When they cease to grow they become old.” ~ Emerson

It's been a while since I've written anything on my blog. Like 3 years. But I just wrote my first post on Substack. Come see?

https://sandraheskaking.substack.com/p/ten-years-ten-things
Spent a couple hours this morning with friends fro Spent a couple hours this morning with friends from @spanishriverchurch picking up beach trash. Little bits of colored and clear plastic, big bits of plastic, bottle caps, broken glass, strings, ropes, straws, socks, fast food containers, paper, cigarette holders and filters—and a couple unmentionables. Took extra care around the turtle nests. Last count was about 70 pounds, but there were also some bigger things like an abandoned chair and a plastic tent. And a big piece of burlap or something with a fishing lure and giant hook attached. D found a Macy’s gift card that he almost tossed in his bucket. But we brought it home to check the balance—$24.60! We should be able to turn that into something useful for someone. 😊
H Already dead, I am living my afterlife here in t H
Already dead, I am
living my afterlife
here
in the form of a human.
~ Xueyan from Time Peels All to Original White

Thanks to @tspoetry for introducing me to this beautiful collection via an Every Day Poems selection.
The cats attacked the window all night. The dog wo The cats attacked the window all night. The dog woofed all night. This morning we discovered the would-be burglar imprisoned between the screen and the glass on our bedroom slider. 

When I stepped out to release it (no bail), I was surprised by this brief bit of backyard beauty.
For most of us, knowledge of our world comes large For most of us, knowledge of our world comes largely through sight, yet we look about with such unseeing eyes that we are partially blind. One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?" ~ Rachel Carson in The Sense of Wonder
#prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michigan #prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michiganstateuniversity
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faith Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. ~ Psalm 136:1
A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in