Poets Salon: Oasis

POETS SALON

– 3/13/19

My Oasis (Photo – Beata Wrzal)

Hosted by Kathabela Wilson

My mother was born by the Nile. She taught me to recognize an oasis. When my former husband was dying, our longtime friend Rick stepped in to bring refreshment, a soothing lightness, and care.

crossing the desert
we made
our own oasis

~ Kathabela

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“Over Bolder,” Marilyn Zammitt’s last artwork. displayed at ‘Arbor Academy’ in Pasadena.

Marilyn Zammitt

A Note To You

Having crossed the desert this morning
I availed myself of your oasis since
at my destination I was always without and
you are always
with
coffee
and biscuits
tried last time with cream cheese.

However I missed
the dessert of your companionship
but made up for it in some
infinitiesimal manner by putting
marmalade
atop the cream cheese
for the final biscuit.

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Pastel. Artwork by Beata Wrzal

Beata Wrzal

I created my oasis, the garden, to escape the stress of work and to forget the suffering I see every day. I also relax and disconnect myself from the hard reality, thanks to my painting, writing, photography and traveling to far corners of the globe.

sick leave…
inhaling the fragrance
of tranquillity

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light breeze…
shadows dance
in the garden

Ο

retreat…
battles and wars go on
somewhere else

Ο

inside the shell…
I close the door
to the madness

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no schedule…
letting go of the reins
in my sick bed

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when autumn chill
hugs your being…
late rose

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Photo by Pat Geyer

Pat Geyer

Here in New Jersey, having been constrained by the cold and snow of Winter, I think we’ll all take refuge in the coming of Spring. It’s a journey that I’m sure we’ve dreamed about for awhile. The skies will be blue and not gray. The ground will be green and not white with a blackish tinge. And finally, drinking in the surprise of a new flower blooming every morning. A very pleasant place to be.

cold winter
morning,
clouds gone…
the coming of Spring
my oasis

another journey,
my caravan of dreams finds
an oasis…
a place to drink in surprise
midst a desert of normal

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Bon Secours Retreat, Center Maryland (Photo – Michael Morell)

Shermaz Wadia

a rainstorm
pelts the roof and windows
through the din
this loudening song
of a whistling blue thrush

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American Robins bathing in small creek (Photo – Michael Morell)

Michael Morell

A “life list” is a list that bird watchers keep of all the birds they have seen in person during their lifetime.

crowded cafe–
stories i know
by heart

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ash wednesday–
father kisses
my forehead

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gravesite
i count the birds
on her life list

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Oasis (Photo – Beata Wrzal)

Oasis: Quotes and Credits

Marilyn Zammitt of Pasadena, California left our world March 1, 2019. She is missed by poets, artists and friends who loved her warmth, and artistry. A strong loving, caring, poet, teacher, artist, and friend was lost to the cancer that she fought off with diligent positive work for years. We admired her for her continuous and creative strength amidst difficulty. She participated in our meetings at Caltech’s Red Door for years, while she cared for her mother till she was 102, to make her mother’s life good to the end. I was so saddened soon after, finding this illness had attacked her when she finally had time for her creative self. She persisted with radiance, still working on her own art, and archiving her artist husband Norman Zammitt’s work, and participating in Arbor Academy (Colonnade) at openings and showed her own work in the December Gallery show. Using all the medical resources she could, she continued to nurture her energy with tai chi as a help and attended classes until a few weeks ago. She slipped out of the world just days after starting home hospice. She is still a beacon of resilience, hope, and patience lost to the even stronger troubled currents of life itself. Her poem here was published in Poets on Site’s book “The Wilsonfest, Nature and Mystery, 2012.”

Beata Wrzal says: “I was born in Poland in 1967, educated in my hometown Deblin and in the capital – Warsaw. I came to UK in 1988 and made it my home. Because of lack of financial support and need of income I became a nurse. I have been working as a district nurse in London for the past 26 years.

Pat Geyer lives in East Brunswick, NJ, USA. Her home is surrounded by the parks and lakes where she finds her inspiration in Nature. Published in several journals, she is an amateur photographer and poet.

Shermaz Wadia says: “It was in Munnar, a luxuriant, heavenly hill-station in South India; one dawn a rain storm lashed furiously and through its tumult rose the delightful whistles of a blue thrush. It is an experience I will always cherish as the bird taught me that one can sing loud and clear even through a raging tempest; that life is about attitude and rising above oneself in any given circumstance. One can perhaps be one’s own oasis when forced to traverse the desert of life. Her poem was first published in ‘on the cusp of dawn: 25 tanka poets from India, Atlas Poetica, September 2014.’

Michael Morell lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His work often combines three of his passions- poetry, photography, and bird watching. Published in national and international journals, over the years, Michael has hosted numerous poetry readings and critique groups, as well as founding/publishing the now defunct poetry journal Sea Change. He finds oasis in ponds and creeks in the urban areas of Southeast Pennsylvania as “places of refuge from the busy & demanding world.”

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♣ We welcome and encourage your response, especially in the form of a short poem, by leaving a comment below.