February/March
2016
- Vol. 84
A selection of poems from Songs
of Hunger, by Sean O'Neill 
WEATHERING
by Sean O'Neill
Strange how the wind will welter
through the slow, gaunt trees,
how rain will seek out meadows and
water will freeze,
how the hail finds the weak points
in the city’s song
and the hot sun weakens the mighty
and the strong.
I found tiresome tenants in the
moods that dogged me,
dark humors that came and when
they left would dally
by the door, knocking loudly,
begging to come in
to debate my childhood, my merit
and my sin.
But I am not inclined to death by
slow degrees,
to the constant carping or the
droning reprise
of those bullyboys from the errors
of my past,
or the cool mantras of my youth
that did not last.
All these fierce contraries will
pile against my door.
I will ignore the clamor and sink
to the core
of the person I am, the sum of my
many faults,
my sore misperceptions, my many
starts and halts,
the deceptions that I plied
through turning seasons,
and blank years, searching always
for valid reasons
why my sentence should be lifted.
The very breaths
I take consume the power of those
daily deaths,
till all the evil is destroyed and
I am whole.
Still, I ache for perfection of
body and soul,
like a construction in brick that
still needs pointing,
or an old man who won’t die
without anointing.
And so, waiting in adverse
weather, I will bless
my days, instead of wasting what
time I possess.
Suffering teaches the heart to
reach for heaven
to become the salt, the spark, the
light, the leaven.
|
.
This poem by (c) Sean O'Neill is from
Songs
of Hunger, a new collection of poems
published in January 2016, available at Amazon.
|
Like
great music, fine poetry has power that can
infuse the soul, transform the mind, and
transcend the mundane everyday experience of
life with what is timeless and supreme.
Songs of Hunger is an
exceptional collection of poems – rich in
language, imagery, symbolism and breadth
of thought, feeling, and place. Sean O’Neill is a
poet of great skill and exceptional
spirit. His poems take you on a quest of
the soul in search of wholeness, healing,
cleansing, and discovering a home for the
restless heart. It is a journey of mercy
and hope, love and faith in the One who
paid the price that sets us free. You will
find plenty here to feed and nourish both
mind and spirit.
O’Neill has published five previous
collection of poems. This book not only
builds on the others – it soars to a new
level of feeling and spirit, hope and joy.
- Don Schwager
See previous
poems
in past issues of Living Bulwark
|
.
Sean O'Neill is
originally from Glasgow, Scotland, and currently
lives in Lansing, Michigan, USA. He has published
several books, including six novels, six books
of poems, and a series of very helpful and
instructive books on a beginner's guide to writing,
including How
to Write a Poem: A Beginner's Guide.
|
. |