Laura Foley: “What Stillness”

WHAT STILLNESS

Lily pads ripple in summer breeze,

as if they bloomed for me,

revelation-white clouds float

through a divine blue sky.

No human voices break

the stillness of this hilltop pond

where I come to forget

the foolishness of homo sapiens—

where a trout leaps from the lake,

splashes shining down,

opening a glimpse into

the world below the surface.

My dog, wet from her swim

between the visible and hidden,

shakes dots of sparkling light

from her dark coat,

forming a watery aura.

What sunlight does to water,

stillness does to us.

Laura Foley is the author of six poetry collections, her most recent being WTF (CW Books)Her poem “Gratitude List” won the Common Good Books poetry contest and was read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac. Her poem “Nine Ways of Looking at Light” won the Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry Contest, judged by Marge Piercy.

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