From Shore to Shore

Life in God's Global Kingdom: Reflections in Poetry and Prose

Pamela Ferguson

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781725252516, 9781725252523
• eBook ISBN: 9781725252530
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Religious Poetry
• Index: Literature

The poetry and prose reflections in this book cover a wide range of themes, discovering the presence of God in deeply challenging as well as joyful experiences. This is a book for all who love and care about the natural world, and a resource for all interested in spirituality, pastoral counseling and teaching, creative communication, and cross-cultural mission. Or simply for those who love poetry.

1

Coastal Path

If one truly loves nature one finds beauty everywhere.

—Vincent Van Gogh, letter to Theo, 30 April 1874

Beach Runner

Race

wind-jostled

on the wet shine of the shore

Leap

with the light-and-shadow

from the cloud-spin

Splash in the spray

of the sun-jeweled rain

in the rush of light

chased by the wind

Coastal Path

Scattered on the sky this evening

the wildflower colors of banks and hedgerows—

sea pink, violet, glint of fuchsia, rose—

strands I glean and fasten

in a binding of hope,

but the clouds are clay on the horizon,

a flint-grey fence,

an ashen screen closing

that will not mold to my demands

or open at my bidding.

Rain like charcoal strikes the headland,

smudges the lough as boats race to shore.

Quickening pace, rethinking the route.

Below me the cliff, a tangle of brambles,

berries in bundles, hard green knots.

One day when ripe I’ll stop to pick them,

watch as black-red juices blot.

Hand in hand we’ve clambered over rocks

and looked as crabs come crawling out

from nooks in blue and amber pools,

clawing, spying out their prey,

but today I keep on walking;

though storm clouds follow me

I carry close to me

my gathering,

my cradling of hope.

Island Impression

Sculpted on Jurassic rock

time-freeze life form

the world forgot

Etched on the arch of a hidden cave

time-locked language

earth people lost

Carved on a Celtic cross of stone

serpent-coil

at the foot of a child

Inscribed on the vellum of my heart

Word of life illuminated

treasure saved

Engraved on the hand of the Son of Man

the human name

Creator’s image

Imprint of nail.

Falls

Shafts of rain

driven by hammering wind

skim across a thin panel of sky

and swipe the roofless church

that sits astride a mossy hill of graves,

a lifespan scored on every slab,

a whole life hidden in every name:

Coughlin, O’Loughlin, Callaghan, Flynn,

Droney, Mahoney, Flanaghan, Glynn,

Cleary, O’Leary, O’Looney, O’Shea,

Heggarty, Healy, O’Dwyer, O’Dea,

echoes of names in streets below

on dripping signs on streaming walls

of huddled shops with half-shut doors,

village cleaving to a bridge

straddling the Inagh Falls

whose water

slashed by gleaming rocks

spills and whirls

like beads of jade and amber,

jasper, quartz and jet,

a votive gift, an amulet,

torrents of joy and anguish

bursting and roaring onto the surface

of the bronze and copper mirror

of the river

opening flat into the valley

where wind-bitten trees with budded branches

charting years and generations

bend and beckon to hill and walls,

to family lines in hidden rooms,

to all of life

the river that flows

and falls and leaps with grace and swirls

beyond the rain-scored stones:

Coughlin, O’Loughlin, Callaghan, Flynn,

Droney, Mahoney, Flanaghan, Glynn,

Cleary, O’Leary, O’Looney, O’Shea,

Heggarty, Healy, O’Dwyer, O’Dea.

The Long Winter

On the west c...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• A Chapter Guide
• Chapter 1: Coastal Path
• Chapter 2: October Moonlight
• Chapter 3: Song in the Night
• Chapter 4: Touch Down
• Chapter 5: Time Voyage
• Chapter 6: Still Small Voice
• Chapter 7: Icelandic Cloud
• Chapter 8: In the Picture
• Chapter 9: Journey into Night
• Chapter 10: Moments in Israel
• Chapter 11: Consider the Lilies
• Chapter 12: From the Desert to Claim the Kingdom