Here is the latest installment of Poet’s Corner, presented by the Edmonds-based EPIC Poetry Group.

New Voices of Quiet Desperation

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Martin Luther King

Today, I heard the roar of silence
beckoning from the other side of my denial.
Previously muted by overwhelm and uncertainty,
my poetic voice screams for artistic release.

Using familiar acclamations, I extend edification to my tribe.
Discouraged souls who no longer embrace or trust
empty rhetoric and false bravados, their
hearts wait in despair for changes that will not manifest.
The blessed voices of creation are vanquished,
threatened by differences both imagined and real,
ignited by misunderstanding and fear.

Rebuking the patronizations of the elite,
my pen becomes my weapon,
a freshly sharpened sword.
Liquid light inks every page,
Holy breath blankets the words, and
publishes truth, healing and restorative energy.
A new alliance has begun.

Now, I look directly into the eyes of everyone I meet.
Observing my reflection in the mirrors of their soul,
I extend a glance of peace and acceptance.
Allowing the compassion submerged in me to surface as a smile,
I discover, without judgment, their humanity and spirit.
I chose to be the illumination they need for one dark moment in their day.
I share the riches of kindness and empathy, piercing their
brokenness with the presence of spiritual vitality.
I speak hope with a jubilant voice and dissolve their darkness.
Our present uncertainty holds unlimited possibility!

Donna M. Rudiger

~ ~ ~

 Choices

 What personal choices will direct you now? Your lifeboat 

of circumstances is fraught with conflicts to the bow! 

Not choosing…is still choosing… even if it means losing; 

sometimes a loss becomes gain when you 

accept the lesson gifted in the pain! 

Choices release voices which 

Harken us to escalating chances, 

Opportunities unlock doors, expand vistas, 

Instigating new steps in our dances. 

Choices are furious, 

Extracting unfulfilled dreams, unmet goals, 

Stretching our imagination, altering our glances. 

Donna M. Rudiger

~ ~ ~ ~

A New Earth

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true. Someday I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that’s where you’ll find me!”

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” — Harold Arlen

When did I stop hearing the lullabies of my childhood?
Where are the songs of rainbows that brought respite to my fears?
When did the beginnings of my youth end and the endings begin?
My ruby-red slippers don’t ‘click’ anymore… uncertainty overwhelms me!

Wake up, O Sleeper! Your day of reparation approaches like a plague of locusts and roaches!
Do you see it on the horizon? Are your lamps filled with oil?
Are you seeking Holy guidance and direction? Do you hear Creation’s groanings,
the cries of Mother Earth and the wailings of her children?

I contemplate the Pleiades and Orion, the Seven Sisters
blazing hope’s luminescence through the twilight of thousands of years.
The culmination of tears that watered your promised Canaan land –
you were there once before, do you remember?
There will be no rest until you return, long sweet dreams remind you of this!

Beware now…all the veils have been rent, there is no curtain, and there is no Wizard!
The road has unexpectedly diverged; you must trust the unpredictable path ahead.
Become who you were created to be. Listen with your eyes. Watch with your ears.
Hold your creative energy as a precious treasure.
Nurture your individual divine artistic expression.
Appreciate that unforeseen current events will birth opportunities of a newer calling!

Embrace the Light,
become friends with Wisdom and Truth…
we’re heading home!

Donna M. Rudiger

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Donna began writing poetry and prose during her adolescent years growing up in southeastern Pennsylvania. An active participant of several writing groups in the Puget Sound area, she’s an award-winning EPIC poet, a member of the Academy of American Poets and teaches poetry workshops. Her work has been published in Soundings from the Salish Sea in 2018, the Skagit River Anthology in 2021 and 2022, as well as previous issues of the Edmonds News Poetry Corner. She was a contributing poet for the 2022 Day of Remembrance for Japanese Americans held at Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds. She’s a retired technical writer and enjoys filming the wildlife near her home in the Cascade foothills of Arlington. You may contact her at dmrudigerauthor@gmail.com.