Come, Lonely Winter Solstice
Rainbow of Tenderness
Photo By: Flockr/Moyan Brenn
I toy with the idea
of leaving poetry behind—
writing, say, memoir—
then talk myself out of it
as I speak with a priest,
who leads me
to my own best self. I pray
before the Blessed Sacrament,
covet only the grace to surrender.
Surrender is the only route to joy,
which should be obvious to anyone
when her soul is not tarnished with sin,
yet still I ask myself
in an unwanted storm of envy,
“If you don’t fight for
your own dreams, whose dreams
will you hold to?”
A rainbow of tenderness
provides for purer intention.
You forgive, out of mercy.
Uphold me with Your grace.
Father, make Your dreams mine.
About the Author
A former English teacher, Helen Losse is the author of ten collections of poetry, including A Flower More Enduring (Main Street Rag, 2021). Her poems have been anthologized in Literary Trails of the North Carolina Piedmont, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume VII: North Carolina, and Kakalak 2014, nominated for a Pushcart Prize and for a Best of the Net award. She is Poetry Editor Emeritus for The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and a former Associate Poetry Editor for Kentucky Review. She is married and has two grown sons. A Christian her entire life, Helen entered the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday in 2015 to grow closer to Jesus.
Social Media links:
Blog: Windows Toward the World https://helenl.wordpress.com/
FB: https: https://www.facebook.com/HelenLosse/
MSR Bookstore: https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product-tag/helen-losse/
