Finding Harmony: Written Tales Chapbook, #12

By Written Tales

Welcome to "Finding Harmony," a literature journey that draws you into the heart of human emotion and connection. As you navigate these pages, diverse perspectives unfold, each page contributing a unique note to life's symphony. From Nicole Docimo's rhythmic contemplation in "Big Bluestem: November" to Zainab Hussain's exploration of family ties in "Bloodlines" and Thompson Emate's introspective musings in "Finding Harmony," these verses invite you to explore the nuanced landscapes of the human soul.

 

Poets like Christine Law, Justin Hatfield, and Karen FitzGerald reveal life's delicate balance, offering moving narratives and insightful reflections. This chapbook serves as a sanctuary, providing moments of solace and inspiration as you immerse yourself in the shared human experience.

"Finding Harmony" goes beyond its title; it's an invitation to explore the intersections of joy and sorrow, love and loss—the pursuit of balance that defines the human spirit. Embrace the verses within, letting harmonies resonate with the cadence of your existence. May these pages reflect your journey, offering echoes that harmonize with the rhythm of your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Written Tales
• Release date: Feb 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224848263

Book preview

Introduction

Welcome to Finding Harmony, a literature journey that draws you into the heart of human emotion and connection. As you navigate these pages, diverse perspectives unfold, each page contributing a unique note to life's symphony. From Nicole Docimo's rhythmic contemplation in Big Bluestem: November to Zainab Hussain's exploration of family ties in Bloodlines and Thompson Emate's introspective musings in Finding Harmony, these verses invite you to explore the nuanced landscapes of the human soul.

Poets like Christine Law, Justin Hatfield, and Karen FitzGerald reveal life's delicate balance, offering moving narratives and insightful reflections. This chapbook serves as a sanctuary, providing moments of solace and inspiration as you immerse yourself in the shared human experience.

Finding Harmony goes beyond its title; it's an invitation to explore the intersections of joy and sorrow, love and loss—the pursuit of balance that defines the human spirit. Embrace the verses within, letting harmonies resonate with the cadence of your existence. May these pages reflect your journey, offering echoes that harmonize with the rhythm of your life.

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Part One

Poetry

A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.

Dylan Thomas

Among a Thousand Islands

Reed Venrick

Late afternoon sun settles below a lavender sky

As dust rises above cattails, you’re lazying easy on

The twilight-shaded side of a island that throngs

With wild palms. An island of five acres, I calculate.

Petite islands lying among the reeds and everglades

And a shallow inland sea, called the Gulf of Mexico,

You turn in the cyan-blue shade of a linen hammock,

Tied between bamboo stalks and a cloud-tall

Cabbage palm, though you’re still feeling the heat,

But tepid air rises and the afternoon moves down,

Cooling to sleepy warm, while you gaze out,

Through the arcing copse of breezy, trembling

Palm fronds—looking over to the island 200 yards

Beyond—three or four giant, mahogany tree arms

And rounding crowns thrusting over the tropical

Forest, growing dense and tangle-vine-thick as

A tapestry raveling. The day’s darkening arc slips

Into leafy cover of twilight and ultramarine shades

Between teal green to navy blue—the sun sharpens

Its polished, horizontal lines to create the golden

Bars. You stand up, you gaze through—across

The « chartreuse riviere » of cosmic light that flows

Between the two islands—slim and lengthy gold

Lines and designs skip-skipping across thousands

Of lily pads, where twittering, periwinkle parrots

From Cuba flitter above—while below, water-

Birds muse and wander—six, smoke-gray cranes

And two purple-morada herons, and, as you step

Over to the water’s reedy edge, you realize such

Moments of Platonian perfection do exist outside

The paltry limits of earth’s recorded time and

A Florida’s Gulf of Mexico space—and that, after all

these years, among all these islands, you found one. ¹

Big Bluestem: November

Nicole Docimo

For ten years I have wandered these scrub and rocks, 

and today the wheat light pours over me, 

clouds drift like plumes from the mountain ridge.

I’ve been battling myself, but here 

the arrows fall to the ground, 

and I enter the room of my body.

I jog the hill, and wind runs beside; 

you never know how you will be saved.

I reach the top and head east, 

the