From an Upper Floor

Mega Observations. . .

Mega Observations. . .

Oftentimes in retrospect, we would wish we demanded someone to grow up to matters requiring some degree of maturity. But how to do that? When a thing is outside our frame of reference, we will fight tooth and nail to remain innocent and free of taint of anything unfamiliar. Or what might even show us to be inadequate in some way. Many religions tell us to flee from what arouses fear even though new ideas might even broaden or enhance what we already believe. Even as children we would strike out aggressively at anyone disturbing our zeitgeist. One preserves one’s innocence and evolution stagnates. Do we know when the unfamiliar will undo us? That we will go babbling down the street and we will be caught by the fellows in the white coats? I think so. I think so. Which is why we make the woo woo circles in the air with our fingers to show we know who are the crazy ones.

Memory, I hear, is the high cost of life.

*****

To be human is an excuse only to one who knows where man’s God resides.

*****

The heart is the organ of redemption. It heals and with love salves the wounds of the world. The psyche of man is healed by the heart.

*****

A parent is a parent. And when the child is fortunate, there are two and it is a partnership. It does not matter who nurtures. What does matter is that the arms know the shape of the heart in their care. And the heart will recognize its parent. And the one who loves him or her.

*****

After buying a 10 yard bolt of burlap at almost 85 years of age, I cannot say I will sit and wait for death to arrive. I will meet him halfway to the bridge. I will take his hand and say let us walk the way together. And we will together, be met.

(click on the plaque. It was a gift to me from Last Bird Sings and a favorite.)

September 6, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
However Long. . .

However long. . . .

Coming into every family will be what a relative calls a misfit. And the label will stick. This often is a child with a need to know everything and talk. And more often than not, there will not be anyone to listen. Because there will be other children, work to do, buses to catch, and fake reasons given on the spur of the moment. I don’t have time to listen will be the mantra. And the child grows to be adult with the need still unfulfilled. Because in the course of life, there will be work and school, meetings and planes to catch and television. Now of course we add hand held devices. The need continues in those born with the desire to learn and talk but like souls dwindle in number.

The sweet hours of the night are filled with the best conversations. No matter the fatigue of the soul, the mind conversations are filled with wonder and appreciation. I awoke with the words, however long the night is, and wondered perhaps I read them someplace. Years of research never found them anywhere. It proved to me again, that we are not abandoned. It will be included in a work in process called Psalms of Love. . .

However long. . .

However long the night is,
is however long we’ll talk.
A tongue dismembered
from its throat
is punishment too severe to be humane.

It has taken a life of silence
to filter through its members
lessons enough
for the toughest skin to break.

I have marched with your words,
through endless tasks,
through nights not filled with magic.
And heard the harangue
from compressed lips tearing even
the plea of forgiveness from Me.

Now I promise.

In the stillness of the life you know,
I will come for you.
In the light of the night,
I will make my way and
no walls will bar my entry.

I will sit the night and
across the table a hand will clasp
the one you call your own.
And in the magic of words spoken,
I will listen to the story built
to house lives of wonder.
It has taken too long.

And we, the each, will speak and listen
and as the words flow like rivers
toward the delta,
in ribbons of courage,
we will stay the night.

And however long the night is,
is however long we’ll talk.

photo by
John Holmes

September 1, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
To Breathe Again. . .

Dog Days of The Lion

When at the end
of the dog days of the Lion
and the garden is again
conducive to prayer,
arrange the knees
bent in homage to the winter.

It is time to pray
the garden into being;
the stage for the winter solstice.
It is time to oil the tools
to store in barns
designed to hide
the hot and humid days
that made breathing difficult.

Spent flowers, weeping willows,
short term annuals,
having already died
their unceremonious death.
We pick up, clean up
the dried up dregs of the summer days,
and live to breathe again
the freshness of a cooling breeze.

Refreshed.

photo by
John Holmes

August 29, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
One World At a Time. . .

One World At A Time. . .

The grounds are silent.
I am here in the catacombs
and yearning for words
to frame my time.
I enter the gleanings of my heart.

Hear O’Lord, my bayings
as the old wolf in the field,
trying to awaken the Mind;
as the old One mourned,
that has been asleep.

Hear what my heart
in the stillness of this hour,
yodels for a thing not defined.

My utterings go out
and circle worlds to find
their match in other throats
echoing mine.

We are so much alike and yet
so minutely different.

As I enter and as I exit,
guide me to what is mine and to no other.
This world where I am, can I accommodate.

One world at a time, dear friend, one world. Amen and amen.

August 27, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
Considered Opinion. . . All Connected. . .

Considered Opinion, all Connected. . .

It is good to see the best in people but one cannot be accountable for everyone. One cannot wish them onto a platform they are not
an example for.

******

Too many children grow up knowing the failures of their parents and think their own fabric is torn.

******

When living in Rome, doing as the Romans do is a task worth attending to. In a society where civilization hinges on rules and regulations that are dismissed as nothing, means that civilization cannot survive. It goes down the tube again.

******

Some of us are born disheveled. Born of a genetic crap shoot, being not what the current thinking society expects. And if all our parts are in the required places, we should consider ourselves fortunate. The next time we may be not quite so fortunate and we will need to cope as best we can. It is something to keep in mind.

******

Nature is rebuking us. She is giving back as well as she has taken from us. The message still stands that we cannot abuse this planet without being rebuked ourselves. The numbers of dead in the weather disasters are horrendous. When are we going to learn that we cannot keep propagating ourselves simply because it is something we know how to do? When are we going to stop mortgaging the future of the children already here by spending lavishly the Earth’s resources as if the expiration date on these resources does not exist? Our Earth can no longer support increasing numbers without coming apart. Daily she screams her distress. We need to solve our need to re-experience the lullaby feeling we remember. Education is the key to understanding our wants and needs to discipline ourselves. It leads to a matter of heart. . . not only ours but also our Earth, our home planet.

Photo by
Joe Hallissey Sr.

August 25, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
August. . .

August

It is August and there is
a sliver of breath
inside the sill.

The deep breath of Autumn is,
I think, a matter of time;
perhaps only in the memory
of the child anxious for
the world of new books to open.

Anxious for the toys of summer
to be put aside to make space
for new thoughts.

An old lady now
but still waiting with anticipation
for the long, dark nights
to be filled with time.

It is necessary.
It will take an entire season
to adjust mind, body and soul
to a new way of thinking
about who I was

and now who I am.

photo by
Joe Hallissey Sr.

August 22, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
Thoughts Brought To The Table. . . .

Eternal is the hour which grants the heart time. Sacred is the vessel which yields the cup.

*****

Life lived on a part time basis is for some more than enough to handle.

*****

There is no talent which will be left unused and no path of interest unexplored.

*****

There is sufficient time for all talents and then some in a world of no time and in a universe which is becoming.

*****

There is no time, all time and yet no time to waste.

*****

To manipulate time to serve the All is the true test of genius.

*****

To be without memory is to strip today of meaning.

*****

A today with no meaning already attempts an empty tomorrow.

*****

To build memories for oneself and one’s nearest is part of one’s commitment to life.

*****

It is not an empty effort to build good memories. The memories will be called up in time not yet spoken and by generations unborn.

*****

When the time of divorcement is close, we ring down the final curtain and review the act.

*****

The heavens are also taught by example. Keep that thought in mind. You can be better.

*****

August 17, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
My Sister, My Earth. . . .

My Sister, My Earth. . .

Like a compass, I stand,
breathing deep
and at the end of my arm
stands the ancient city
and at the top of my head
the north wind still blows.

Cooler by far
during the last month
of the year but still refreshing.

How to love this Earth
whose pines blister my skin
and give fertile gifts to my heart?
Astringent at times,
comforting at others, the jewels
my eyes would linger on.

It is with marvel I scan
the horizon, for how can man live
without one?
Trees hover, cattails linger,
long after their season, so much.

The water shimmers in the sun,
casting waves, glancing off shores.
Where else can Earth
find its mate?

It finds me, or I, it.
I bow on knees ready to lay lips
to her black dirt, ready also to lay
my body into her to gain her courage.

A sister, born and bred to serve
and to speak her seasons with eloquence;
to shed her gifts with magnificence
and all she asks,

is we be her stewards.

photo by
Joe Hallissey Sr.

August 13, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
The Pain of Thought. . .

The Pain of Thought. . .

They speak with their doctors,
their counselors and those with
backward collars
that they are anxious.

And cannot explain the panic
and the night sweats
that engulf them
even in their sleep.

They read they say
all manner of books and articles
on positive thinking
and watch only those programs
that make them laugh
or sing their favorite songs.

They stay away from opinions
that destroy their sense
of equanimity and the
professionals wag their collective heads
and thoroughly agree.

Stay away! Don’t read the message
of those whose views would have
you stray from dogmas long
causing man’s anguish.

Don’t upset yourself, the counselors say,
just stay within the confines
of your parent gods.
They knew what was best for you.

But why then, you still ask,
when you know your life
should make a difference,

this kind of thinking makes your brain hurt?

In this day, thoughtful opinions are too much like work for most people. Entertainment is what is preferred. And when school books are closed, seldom are they opened again. Time is a commodity to be artfully balanced. And unless we are ready to give up what has taken centuries for the human brain to be able to accommodate conflicting thoughts, we must use our time wisely or lose what abilities we have mastered. When high school students find a paragraph difficult to retain, of course thinking will bring on brain pain.

artwork by Claudia Hallissey

August 11, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.
Comforts . . .

Comforts. . .

There is a comfort
in being surrounded
by familiar things.
After a lifetime of use,
they are as old friends
needing only me as a companion.

My books follow my travels
begging not to be left behind.
Only those I have visited often
can lay claim to shrinking space.

My tablets, journals, yellow pads
and ringed ones need me to keep
forming words like a forever
love letter to mind companions.

There will come a time
when the need for even these
will cease and the red pen
will no longer underline
newly revealed insight.

For it will have all been said
and remembered.
The tablets will be filled,
except for a loose thought roaming
the Ether looking for a like mind
to grasp it and fill in the
fresh, forgotten ledger

lying unattended and waiting. Unfinished.

August 9, 2016

Veronica Hallissey has been writing since the 1960s, with her poetry published in a variety of small press magazines. Born into a farm family in Lockport, NY, and educated at the University of Buffalo and other midwest institutions, she brings and unusual point-of-view to her poetry, combining strong natural images with a deep spiritual language. She lives in Ramona, CA.