Shot of Reality: Six Movements of Grace (Poems)
A collection of poems from the soul for the soul by Dawn Richerson that includes poems on love and loss written in the most tumultuous, daunting and damaging days of my life’s gracious unfolding.
This poetry collection was originally published by Autumn Zephyr Press, a Creative Revolutions imprint publishing passion-powered poetry, in 1999. ISBN 0-9715073-6-8 Download cover and manuscript from this page or order the paperback here.
Poems from the Soul for the Soul
Visit Dawn's Poetry Website
CONTENTS
I. Torn Asunder- how we dreamed
- this ain't no family picnic
- puzzle piece
- torn asunder
- forgotten symphony
- the difference
- decoration
- what will be?
- to the dawn
II. Calibration
- the truth about pretzels and me
- woman, reaching
- woman, transformed
- my soul seeks a clearing
- the hazards of risking one's whole heart
- why does God?
- calibration
- I, Vesuvius
- on this, God's good, green Earth
- opposite forces
- on butterfly wings
- Jell-o heart
- sand and sea
- seasons
- ceremony
- Suicide Cycle
- Spring, before she killed herself
- birthday poem
- to Virginia
- deliverance
- sister suicide
- secret celebration
III. Unlit Candles
- shot of reality
- face the music
- portrait
- unlit candles
- visitation
- where next I saw you
- on the eve of Christmas eve
- a moment's expectation
- 33 reasons why
IV. Bye, Bye, Black Sheep
- signed, sealed, delivered
- re: your letter of October 23
- in through the back door
- inappropriate
- go now, be gone
- bye, bye black sheep
- cast out
- after the kill
- dirty business, this letting go
- said the black sheep to the little lamb
- uprooted
- if only I were
V. No Accounting
- thanks giving
- cantata
- an economy of words
- no accounting
- conversation #33
- take us back
- Satan speaks
- grace retracted
- he wants to know why
- this, then, is why
- good society
- by the wayside
- VI. Robin's Child in Spring
- melody for the ones who cannot sing
- the courage of one
- winter drags cold feet
- into the trees
- dreams in glass
- first night
- Robin's child in Spring
- reconstruction
- it's a small world
- fault lines
- who I used to be
- hymns among the ruins: requiem
- shadow of myself
- red planet rising
- traces of where I've been
VI. Holy Uncertainty
- peculiar passageway
- between two worlds
- when grace came
- grand erasure
- exquisite color
- fare thee well
- so I carry you
- picture with a view
- holy uncertainty
- communion
- breaking bread
- every time I see a redbird
- in your river
- renegade reunion
- my God cries purple tears
- tomorrow's tapestry
SAMPLE POEM
Conversation #33
People crucify what they
cannot understand. Don't you
get that? Don't you, Dawn?
Light of your truth, powerful;
magic of your kind of love exposes
imperfections in what we thought flawless
before you refused to bend. It's too much.
Too damn much. Can't you see that now?
They haven't snuffed it out: your
brilliant light. We've only killed what it's there
to remind us of: life's a miracle,
beautiful, so very beautiful; still...
it's too much. It's all just too damn much.
What's too much? What do you mean?
I ask, in search of problem I might fix.
I don't even know. You are. Everything.
Your honesty--it frightens them. Sometimes
people just want to live in the dark.
I know you are so lonely
there in your light of truth. I know it's just
too much to bear alone, but I can't. I
can't give up shadows. It's who I am, who
I'll always be. You were made to shine.
But insist on such stark, bright light,
illumination... Don't you see?
They will kill you for your love.