Earth Songs II

Just published a new collection of poetry titled Earth Songs II. It’s a sequel to Earth Songs: New & Selected Poems, published in 2003. The new collection commemorates family members and friends who are no longer with us and a now fading time when peacefully protesting senseless wars and the government’s ill treatment of injured soldiers seemed to have a hope of transforming America into a more caring culture.

Amid these graveyard thoughts, written during sleepless nights and Warrior Writers workshops, sometime zestful poems emerged like spring flowers, renewed displays of Nature’s healing powers. These poems were nourished by the kindness of friends, relatives, lovers, strangers, and by treks in astounding outdoors places, where battered spirits can be renewed.

Come See

A flare of flowers, a sunset aflame—

I capture rapture with my camera,

In a Zen penning of a poem—

And such moments, forget what’s lost

Commemorating Peace

When I was growing up,

The whole village stopped

For a moment of silence

At the 11^th hour of the 11^th day

Of the 11^th month—

Armistice Day.

It was treated seriously,

Like Arbor Day,

When we planted trees—

Ancient holy days now,

When people commemorated peace

And spring planting.

Early Warning

Winter dropped from the October sky

Two days before Halloween—

Tree branches smothered in snow

On summer leaves snapping deep into the night

Made darker by downed power lines

Global warming! skeptics scoffed—

As this part of suburban civilization

Staggered for days without electricity,

Towns closed schools, postponed Halloween

Until tangled wires and lives are restored

The paperback book, listed at $10, is available at lulu (with a 10 percent discount): http://www.lulu.com/shop/jan-barry/earth-songs-ii-poems-of-love-loss-and-life/paperback/product-23822398.html