Category Archives: poetry

The not ungrateful leper

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

It was not ingratitude silenced me, but inadequacy; the paucity of my language; the paltry dance of palsied limbs, trembling as a fawn, trembling as one newly born, barely breathing; rasping out music as though the song had been buried … Continue reading →

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Michael and all angels

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

I am tired of angels. I am tired of their wings beating hollow drums of war, their obsequious, their patronizing, “Do not be afraid;’ their inconvenient words to frightened virgins and old women. I am tired of their entrapment of … Continue reading →

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The yearning

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

I dare not reach for glory, for fear of falling. I cannot bear to love you, for fear of drowning. I dare not turn away from you, for fear of desolation.

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Sea and sky

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

A week ago, I was in the tropics, enjoying the ocean, the rain forest, the island.  I took my first ever ride on a jet ski; we saw sea turtles, swimming fast and deep, glinting green. I thought about the … Continue reading →

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Untethered

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

There’s a man standing in the lake  on his phone. From my seat between a mallard duck and the old tyre, I watch him, waist deep, cradling his elbow firm against the rock of the waves, watch the clouds scud … Continue reading →

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Off centre

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

The hedgerow maze boxes me in, walls me out through another false turn. In the centre hides perfection, unbreakable cypher, impassive God. Out in the margins of error, the elbow crook of one more dead end, lies Jesus, sprawled as though we … Continue reading →

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August

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

The cicadas are praising God incessantly; while my last frayed nerve curls with the rising humidity, they sing, and play their tiny violins, an orchestra of prayer. I would join them, but my soul is having a bad hair day, refuses … Continue reading →

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Collateral

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

I do not know what will grow, whether the markets will bustle with plenty, or if the barometer’s fall will pressure them into silence ahead of the storm; I know that this morning a child said her father’s name for the first time, and … Continue reading →

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Martha & Mary

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is so much to be done: the sweeping of the streets, the hanging of bags full of plasma, saline, the careful placement of Kleenex. There are so many distractions: tanks and trucks, bullets and bombs, the cleaning of windows … Continue reading →

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“Do not be overcome by evil”

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

… “but overcome evil with good.” Continue reading →

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