Sep 3, 2021 | Writing

Illuminations on Ocracoke Ferry

by

Illuminations on Ocracoke Ferry

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Photo by Joann Koff. Poet and artist Joann Koff shares "Illuminations on Ocracoke Ferry" which includes the lines "You transform the minute to eternal / Magically giving transparency to thought."

Poetry is an ancient filament of expression illuminating a point of view lyrically through sparse, carefully selected words, to create images that connect to the poet’s heartfelt vision of an event, person, or object. In so doing, poetry becomes a timeless art that touches and often pierces its readers with vivid insights and discoveries that makes a poem a special gift that sustains itself through time, memory, and recitation. The poems in my book are the sand, pebbles, fossils, and rocks that have chiseled, shaped and metamorphosized me.

   You are the lone minstrel to my feelings  

As I star wish under you, mysterious moon. 

An old, pasty gray face etched in white,  

Saying, “Oh!” to whatever I ask of you, 

Only crystal clarity, for you cast no shadow. 

   So unlike the sun, who warms everything. 

  

   At night, you act like my celestial buoy, 

Upon the oceans’ jet blackness, 

Illuminating the ferry’s route across the channel. 

Lurking in the deep is Blackbeard’s ghost; 

Salty sea breezes grab sensibilities. 

     So unlike the sun, who warms everything. 

 

   Like a tempest, you dance upon waves 

Causing tides to surge in laughter.                           

Like a silver medallion you outshine,      

Disguising all defining shape, 

Sprinkling alluring tea lights upon rough surf. 

   So unlike the sun, who warms everything.   

 

   Waxing full, I perceive your brilliance, 

Under the night sky, I reflect, like you. 

As you change lunar phases, 

You transform the minute to eternal. 

Magically giving transparency to thought. 

   So unlike the sun, who warms everything. 

Find out more about my book (and preview it some more) at my website, here.

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