The Edge
So much meaning can be found
in the little moments of the day,
In the nooks and corners of our lives,
where the world waits for us
And calls
Here you are, You have arrived!
What joy, what sweet tender delight
in that moment of knowing
that life embraces you back
In those moments,
When you open up as the rose
in all your delicate aliveness
singing to the sky
that for now, I am here
In those moments,
those soon forgotten in-betweens
Of sunsets and daydreams
This is where the magic lives
Just out of the corner of your eye
at the edge of a laugh
when the wind picks up the forests scent
and you throw back your head to breathe in
when your heart is overfull and you reach out
across the void
to someone reaching back
That’s when
Faeries are born and new seeds sprout
one heart changes as one breaks to open
the wheel turns, and new days come
So look closely now
and see what it might give
for here at the edges of all things, here
is where the magic lives.
Kaery Wind
Sundials
I don’t measure my days
in minutes or hours
But in the unfurling of leaves
and the budding of flowers
I don’t measure time passing
with dates or pages turning
but with the height of nettles
and the geese returning
As I watch the numbers
they slowly dance away
and slip into these moments
that move, skip and sway
Alive and free
they stretch and weave
they pass like spring showers
they pass in a dream
The hawthorn hedge blooms
and I notice every flower
its fullness whispers summer
on my skin beneath its bower
The screens have turned to windows
their light roaming from my eyes
and the clocks have turned their faces
to watch the clearing skies
For me and for the seeds
we await the warming sun
to do what we were made for
and slowly come undone
Kaery Wind
Kaery Mcdonald is an avid writer of poetry and short stories, and enjoys weaving the beauty of nature into her pieces. She lives on the Sunshine Coast, which offers an abundance of natural beauty to inspire. Kaery runs expressive arts workshops, where she encourages participants to play, to get in touch with their creative self and explore the potential we all have for artistic expression.
Not Out of the Woods Yet
We’re not out of the woods yet
Just longer in tooth and deeper in debt
When you can’t understand the things you don’t get
You’ll be losing the battle and losing the bet
Morality’s foreplay is sucking you up
Conditioned responses are driving the truck
No room for manoeuvres or passing the buck
Driving through life without giving a cluck
Break into the clearing, break into the light
Kick down the darkness and put up a fight
The end’s round the corner, just out of sight
Make a dash from the nightmares, escape from the night
Jesus can’t save you and God doesn’t care
Mary’s in Languedoc taking the air
And you’re on your own with the rubes at the Fair
With nothing to show and little to share
George Connell
Another World
There is a depth I’ve yet to see
Profundity to wonder
Spirits wait to hand to me
A spell to tumble under
There is a love that’s far too deep
For me to understand
Churns my heart in turns and leaps
Like drunken contraband
There is another world from here
I’ve seen it in a dream
Far away yet still quite near
As close to you as me
George Connell
Dream
I don’t know how she got there
I never caught her name
It never really mattered
She was with me all the same
Kind yet unattainable
Present but soon gone
A lurid Queen of Sheba
Against my frail Don Juan
Every time she visits me
She’s much more than a dream
For she is all the ages
That I have ever been
The softness of a metaphor
Or some forgotten phrase
Consumes me with a passion
That haunts my waking days
Days of anguish ‘til I lay
My body down to bed
Before the demons infiltrate
The potholes in my head
Long before I fall awake
I know she has to leave
For I am all the ages
That I have ever been
If I should die before I wake
If I should come full stop
I pray the gods my soul to take
Before my body drops
More tender than the imagery
That wraps me up in dreams
For I am all the ages
That she has ever been
George Connell
George Connell is an artist, author, and musician. Born in Montreal, he moved to Vancouver in 1973 and now calls the Sunshine Coast home. He has published two novels and a collection of poetry, produced a cd of original music, appeared in numerous television commercials and theatre productions, and is an accomplished oil portraitist.
Look On The Bright Side
Quiet words can touch your heart
Even if it’s something small
Inspire someone
They will listen
As long as you say something
That’s all
Never say never
Always try
As long as you persevere
You will get it right
There never has to be
A fork in the road
But there is
Let your heart
Show the way
Remember
You are never alone
Someone
Will always
Be there for you
Promise me you will
Always try to
Look on the bright side
J. Young
Grade 6
Goodbye Winter Hello Spring
Goodbye snowy days
Hello spreading flowers
Goodbye grey clouds
Hello green trees
Goodbye rainy days
Hello blues skies
Goodbye snowshoeing
Hello blue birds
Goodbye sleepy bears
Hello busy squirrels
Goodbye winter
Hello spring
L. Graham
Grade 1
Kindness Is
Kindness is
Like water
When something falls
In the water
It ripples and spreads
Z. du Preez
Grade 6
If You’re Not From The West Coast
If you’re not from the West Coast
You don’t know our mountains
You can’t know our mountains
You don’t know the rocky rough terrain of the turf
The fluffy snow and frost that covers the top
You can’t know our mountains
If you’re not from the West Coast
You don’t know our rain
You can’t know our rain
The heavy rain coming down on all of us
We are drenched in water all over ourselves
And our shoes, socks are soaked to the brim
You can’t know our rain
If you’re not from the West Coast
You don’t know our forests
You can’t know our forests
The humid smell of cedar trees
The plants and moss growing in cracks and crevices in the dark wet soil
You can’t know our forests
If you’re not from the West Coast
You don’t know our sea
You can’t know our sea
When we wake up, we see the blue ocean gleaming in the sunlight
The smell of the beach when you come close to the sea
You can’t know the sea
If you’re not from the West Coast
You can’t know us
You don’t know us
We are kind and caring
We help each other out whenever in tough times
You can’t know us
But we can welcome you into our land
