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  OF CONCRETE AND GLASS

  CAITLIN MCCOLL

  Copyright © 2015 Caitlin McColl

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9781310365126

  Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copy-righted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

  PREFACE

  This small book of poetry spans more than ten years, and completed in 2011. I wrote 'The Maple Leaf', that begins the book back in Grade 10 as a high school class exercise. Even now I am still in love with it after all these years.

  We walk a fine line between the light and the dark...

  This book contains poems about the beauty of nature: that of the natural world that surrounds us and the cities we live in, as well as human nature. This is contrasted with poems that deal with the heart of darkness that can be found in humanity, and the strange and shadowy aspects within society and ourselves.

  The 'Dawn' section is generally lighter, happier and more positive in tone. The 'Twilight' poems are darker, more sinister and strange.

  I hope you enjoy my foray into the light, and the dark.

  ~ Caitlin McColl

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgements

  DAWN

  The Maple Leaf

  Butterflies

  Dragonfly

  Centaur

  Golden Sun

  Home

  Avalon

  Lightwalker 1

  Lightwalker 2

  Freedom of Being

  Spirit Bear

  Cosmic Rainbows

  Solstice

  Rainbow Fish

  Wanderlust

  Possibilities

  Silent Sentry

  Lazy Days

  Quantum Life

  Little Gods

  Everyday Magic

  Phoenix

  Scales

  TWILIGHT

  The Darkest Hour

  Our World’s Demise

  The Pool

  Jack

  Statuesque

  The Tides

  Lost

  Found

  Doppleganger

  Modern Warrior

  The Red Sky

  Nightstalker 1

  Nightstalker 2

  Peripheral Vision

  Modern Vampire

  Reflections

  Water Whispers

  Midnight Cove

  Tree of Life

  The Timeless

  Starbucks Society

  Under Starry Skies

  The Blood of a Dead Poet

 

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This is my first book of published poetry.

  I would like to thank Marie Land for designing my beautiful cover.

 

  DAWN

  The Maple Leaf

  The symbol of our country,

  Lying dead on the ground.

  The redness has faded,

  The leaf has been crushed.

  Is this the proud symbol of Canada?

  Thrown about in the wind,

  Carelessly tossed and unnoticed

  By strangers, bustling about.

  Is this the proud symbol of Canada?

  A plain, little leaf,

  Painted on our nations flag,

  Hardly the size of our hands,

  The maple leaf on the ground.

  Butterflies

  Butterflies dance

  above the flowers

  Like ethereal beings

  No worries or cares

  Just beauty and simplicity

  Transformation and freedom

  Personified

  Ironically

  bobbing and floating

  Like puppets on strings

  Being pulled about

  amateurishly

  By an unseen hand

  Dragonfly

  Majestic metallic

  Armour glinting

  Flitting and hovering

  Alighting briefly

  Gossamer membranes

  Frozen aloft in midair

  Brilliant blues, Fiery reds

  No ferocity or flames

  Only beauty

  And serenity

  Centaur

  She walks from the darkness,

  into the light

  Brushing leaves from her face

  as she does

  The coolness of the forest ends

  it is bright

  The comfort of her home,

  the camouflage gone

  Her long chestnut hair

  blends into one with her body

  and covers her breast

  She walks unsure,

  unsteady on four legs

  She has never before

  left the forest

  Into this new world nothing like her own

  She stamps a hoof

  and swishes her tail

  She knows she has to make the journey

  All of her kind eventually do

  And with the knowledge that she will always be welcome

  She takes her first tentative steps

  Into the unknown

  Outside of the forest

  The cocoon she has grown up in,

  experiences are limitless

  She feels like flying,

  her heart soars

  She is free

  Golden Sun

  They come into our lives

  Some stay only briefly

  Other stay for parts

  Still others for a lifetime

  People come into our lives

  In so many ways

  And leave us

  Just as mysteriously

  When someone has left your life

  By passing, moving on

  They are always with you,

  Always part of who you are

  Whether they were in your life

  Just briefly,

  Or maybe a little longer

  They all make an imprint

  on your soul

  Like the golden sun

  Shining through closed eyes

  You are forever changed

  By everyone you meet

  Home

  Synonymous with rain

  Green glass glinting in the spring

  and summer sun

  Majestic lions look down from above

  Surrounding a glittering sea

  Passersby politely gawk

  At celebs in trendy

  Robson Street eateries

  Stanley Park an emerald oasis

  In a modern forest

  of concrete and glass

  Not just a city,

  A breath of fresh air

  Avalon

  Ancient, mystical,

  Lush and savage land

  Veils of mist part

  Only for those

  True of heart

  Meant to learn

  Its secrets

  Lightwalker 1

  Bathed in universal love

  Freed from the grasp of

  darkness

  Unfettered by preconceptions

  Singing the songs

  Of joy and purpose

  Surrounded by

  a radiant aura

  An angel in our midst

  Walking on a pathway of

  light

  The being that is

  Pure Happiness

  Lightwalker 2

  Surrounded by

  a pink and

  gold tinged glow

  Pure unconditional

  emotion, unexplai
nable

  Unable to put into words

  Soul experiences

  Caring for humanity

  Forever flowing

  Unlimited

  on an atomic level

  The reality of

  Love

  Freedom of Being

  Running swiftly

  Galloping

  Chestnut fur flowing

  gracefully

  Shining richly in sunlight

  Big golden eyes

  Full of love and hugs

  when we hurt

  Nuzzling our face

  Exploring with all his being

  every blade of grass

  tree, fence, lamp

  Intense unwavering focus

  Nothing in the universe matters

  Except the Ball

  Spirit Bear

  Droplets hang from sagging boughs

  Of tall, dark pines

  Enveloped in thick mist

  Deep in the rugged wilderness of

  the Pacific Northwest

  Passing between the trees

  A ghostly figure treads silently,

  The local people whisper reverently

  About a mystical, powerful creature

  One rarely seen, almost imagined

  Like that of the

  Sasquatch

  Cosmic Rainbows

  Flowing like a cosmic curtain

  Across the starlit sky

  The cold North

  and barren South

  Awash with shimmering light

  The magical rainbow sways

  like a celestial dancer

  Orchestrated by the universe

  Solstice

  Slivers of amber

  Filter through the window

  The room on fire

  Towards the distant hill

  Silhouetted yet ablaze in gold

  Stands a figure in long robes

  Long hair blowing in a bitter wind

  Arms outstretched heavenward

  Welcoming the season

  The time of change

  When Mother earth retreats

  Like the phoenix

  To be restored again

  Rainbow Fish

  I had a dream once,

  of strange unusual creatures

  A bat with one wing,

  like a sail, on its back

  A beautiful fish with a

  rainbow frilled mane

  brilliant blue

  dotted and striped

  with splashes of yellow

  green and purple

  And a tiny mouse

  with electric fur

  living in the desert

  becoming electrically charged

  by frequent thunderstorms

  I had a dream in which all

  these unique creatures were

  dying

  If they existed,

  would we turn a blind eye?

  As with the Panda

  and Bengal Tiger

  Wanderlust

  Dark Hills

  Velvet curtain

  A lone figure silhouetted

  Against the vast starless sky

  Walking onward

  Unperturbed

  By cold and

  Relentless animals

  Always moving

  Never stopping

  Wanderlust

  Fills his soul

  Possibilities

  Soaring over the grass

  And blue black hills

  In far away lands

  I am a bird, a butterfly, a moth

  Feeling the cool breeze

  Whipping past

  Catching a warm up-draft

  and floating, swirling, peaceful

  My mind wanders

  from its task

  And again

  I put pen to paper

  Silent Sentry

  Sun beats down

  On snow-capped mountains

  Frigid waters

  And majestic forest

  Peaceful, serene

  A contrast

  To traffic jams

  Crowded streets and buses

  The pollution and din

  Of a city and its people, living life

  Surrounded by glass and concrete

  While being silently watched over

  By the snow-capped mountains

  Lazy Days

  The soft cool grass

  between your toes

  The comforting warmth

  of the sun on your hair

  The subtle fragrance of

  flowers, a cocoon

  The low rumble of bees

  an elixir

  Whisking you away from reality

  Floating away from the everyday

  Just being

  Until the ubiquitous cellphone

  Yanks you back down

  to earth

  Quantum Life

  Ordered – Chaos

  Symbolism – Synchronicity

  Global events – Personal actions

  Seem random – But infinitesimally planned

  All people – All things

  Are pure energy – That is organized

  Little Gods

  Millions of little gods

  Surround us, omnipresent

  Assisting with everyday mundane

  Survival – Earth, Fire, Water, Air

  Inside of us

  They are our being

  They are energy

  Everyday Magic

  The concrete

  beneath my feet

  Turns to velvety soft grass

  The stone bricks

  and pillars of buildings

  fade into trees

  Exhausts become

  a fragrant breeze

  a light mist

  The honking cars

  turn into herds

  of fragile deer

  Window panes

  Turn to glassy lakes

  and calm streams

  Shining back my reflection

  All people around me

  vanish

  City noise becomes

  the buzzing drone of bees

  and the chirp of birdsong

  Just imagine

  Phoenix

  As the sun rises

  Slowly over the horizon

  The phoenix,

  Like you,

  Is reborn

  As the first rays of light

  Flow over the land

  You,

  Like the phoenix,

  Come to life again

  The phoenix bursts forth

  To accomplish all it can

  Before, in the dying light,

  Under a starlit sky

  It's life is extinguished

  If only briefly

  Only to be restored again

  With the energy

  Of the sun

  Scales

  Translucent

  Shimmering body of armour

  Weighing hearts and deeds

  and future possibilities

  Measuring darkness and light

  infinity and vastness

  The scales of animal

  The scales of justice

  The scales of the universe