Heather Gelb- A Poem

Brief Bio: I often feel like a gazelle as I leap from hilltop to hilltop.

On one of these hills I recently publish my memoir, my spiritual journey from the hills of one land to another:  http://www.amazon.com/From-Hilltop-Path-Rwanda-Israel/dp/1937623076

One of my poems based on this book will be featured in the fall edition of Poetica Magazine.

I have also published stories and poetry in Green Panda Press, Deronda Review, Jellyfish Whispers, Stepping Stones, and Esra Magazine.

 

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Turbulence and the Joy of Sunflowers

 

I fall through

Troubled skies pulsing with uncertainty, and

Touch clouds of luminance that

Reveal flocks of shadowy crows

Emerging from the horizon.

I am falling, falling through a

Guiding turbulence

That only lonely, half-mad geniuses understand, and

I land on

Converging paths bordered by

Patches of blazing wheat.

Swirls of sky and unstable fields 

Pull away from each other with

Baseless hatred.

Endless black birds zigzag and chant slogans while

Clutching knives dripping with self-fulfilling anger.

Their fluttering wings create illusions

Of Freedom dancing with Death,

I resist the urge to scream in

Helpless surrender.

Instead I feel inner calm as I

Whirl with the eddies of

Swirling colors and focus on the

Yellow.

And then I remember the

Joy of sunflowers

And understand how all the

Separated parts are united by

Echoes of peaceful color.

I really do choose the

Less travelled path in search of sunflowers while

I  throw stones of hope at the birds

That send ripples through their illusions

And release a cascade of renewed energy sharpened with

Determination to live without fear.