Tides are treacherous
and sea strips sand from our shore,
man must learn to fly
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly.
nature
SEEN IN SCOTLAND
Last year I headed to Ayrshire and the island of Arran on the shores of the Firth of Clyde in south west Scotland to find a location for my novel “The Journey Home, currently in the editing stages.
This is the wonderful wilderness that lay in wait;
All Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
THE BENCH ALONG THE WAY
And the leaves
leaned back
by the bench
beneath the branches
to let the light
linger longer
on the memory
now maintained
when two sat together
and dreamed
of the distance
they had yet
to discover.
All Words and Photography by Damien B. Donnelly
Photograph taken in the Jardin du Palais-Royal, Paris
BLUE
And there, by the winding road, it watched
and there, by the rushing waters, it took anchor
and there, neath commuting clouds, it found no freedom,
her song; locked to the land
waiting as the tides retreated
wailing as the breeze bolted
out onwards and over
always and forever
while there, by the winding road, by the edge of the baying blues
her song;
bound to the shore
unlike the tide
unlike the tempest
unlike the sands of time
blue said the sea
not I said the sky
nor I said the clouds
nor I said the sand
but I sang the song
there on the shore
her song forever tied
forever more…
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
Photograph taken in Skerries, Co. Dublin, Ireland
NO COMPARISON
And they say
that man is master
and should marvel
at all he can make
but there’s no
mistaking the meaning
of majesty
when the seas and heavens shake…
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
ONLY A MOMENT
I see you
all around me
I see you
in the sky
above me
I see you
in the water
below me
and in the sea
I see the sky
and in its reflection
I see your connection
and I am nowhere
and we are nowhere in sight
between the sea and the sky
we are the blink of an eye
we are the blink already blunk
we are not the sea
we are not the sky
we can sail the sea
but can’t comprehend its depth
we can fly through the sky
but can’t comprehend its infinity
I see you all around me
and you are endless
and we are just fish
stuck in the stream
caught on your current
and we are just birds
blown on your breeze
for but a moment
we are but a moment
but when we smile
that moment is everything
like the river when it finds the sea
like the star when it lights the sky
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
Audio version available on Soundcloud:
IN HIS PLACE
And slowly the bud unfolded,
new life in bloom
as the leaves trembled
like clapping hands
while the heavens hushed.
And slowly the bud unfolded,
a spring in song,
the frost now falling
like melting tears
on her gentle face.
And slowly the bud unfolded,
as he had said,
as he had promised
when life was long
and time eternal.
And slowly the bud unfolded,
life flowing in,
the day now brighter,
air now fresher,
her loss now lighter.
And slowly the bud unfolded,
and in the breeze
she heard him whisper;
“You’ll smile again
when the buds will bloom.”
And slowly the bud unfolded,
a song in spring,
as he had promised,
a love to last,
their touch eternal.
And slowly the blood unfolded
and silence took his place…
Until slowly the bud unfolded
and in its beauty she saw his face.
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
Listen to the audio recording on Soundcloud:
DELICATE THINGS
There are violets
in lullabies
caressing windows
where once
only sleeping notes lay
There are songs
in springtime
seducing summer
in gardens
where all colour was grey
There are violets
awaking
on walls now a witness
to the orchestra
of nature at play.
There are violets
on strings,
on sweet subtle strings,
simplicity reassured
in the delicate things.
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
COVETING CROWS
Flight
There is a bloom bursting in the bleak of winter
There are shadows that lurk in the sun’s embrace
There is a crow overhead looking mean and sinister
There’s an order disordered in time and space
Flap
There is a light that shines on shadows in autumn
There is pain in the thorn of the blooming brier
There is a crow that flies though nobody sees him
There is deception in things we think we desire
Fear
There are people are laughing without rhyme or reason
There are others counting up all they have lost
There is beauty in bloom no matter the season
While that crow overhead is counting up the cost.
Fall
There is a shadow overhead watching us wither
There is a bird in flight just biding his time
There is destruction flapping on feathers that flutter
There is a crow who now covets our reason to rhyme.
All Words and Pictures by Damien B. Donnelly
ON THE WATER
In the morning
by the river
gently waking
all nature is reflected
in the slowly moving current
in the trees as they bare witness
in the grass as it bares its blanket
in the morning.
I saw you like this
at the birth of morning
as day spawned its dawning
as I rowed out onto the water
and I sailed on ever further
from the darkness into light
in the silent stillness of the morning
as if I were following creation
on back to its conception
as if all before had vanished
as if the earth had shed all blemish
in the stillness of the morning’s silence.
I saw you like this one morning
as I waded out into the reflection
on the river that caressed creation
in the morning, still and silent
like I were back at the beginning
to see how it all had started
before we stripped it, raped it, starved it.
I saw you like this
one morning
as I sailed
along the river
as I looked into the waters
flowing
forever onwards
and saw all that time could never capture
and a beauty we can never truly hold
and I wondered
who will worship
all this wonder
when we’ve killed
each other off?
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
Damien B. Donnelly 