poetry
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The Dutch poet and playwright Judith Herzberg has presented the world with a body of work that reveals her sensitivity to fine details of a moment, those details she observes, and to the language required to express the subject. She discerns in the mundane what is elusive to others. Pieter Vandermeer writes of Ms. Herzberg:…
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Still LifeSpreading dawnDelicate pearl-pinkFiery red weaves ragged cloudsA cardinal dartsAmong snow powderedSpruce branchesSpinkling snow dustOn grave stones Plastic Christmas flowersRibboned wreathsA mourning dove coo-oosHoney coloredLight spreads blue shadowsBeyond the wrought-iron fenceMorning rush hour trafficPasses on a gray thread of roadPoem: Still Life ©2026 Charles van HeckPhotograph: Snowy Morning ©2026 Charles van Heck
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In the oblique stagelight moon,He, closing his weary raven eyes,Lips puckered, lifts his trumpet.On a breath, deep from his lungs,A burst, a single improvised note,Rises, from the arteries of his soul,Free to the bell’s silver flair height,He teases melodic notes with rhythmic complexity,A fluttering, a dense chord progression Arrhythmic split tone, cross-rhythm phrases,Daring liberties with…
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Walking from the BarnAt the pasture’s distant edge,Spines of twisted trees, branchesKnitting the waning gray lightfall sky.My breath vapors form cloudsIn the air smelling of snow.Crows, in curved flight, caw Their roosting hour notes,Rising as if released fromSheet music uplifted on wings.Aroused, sniffing in circles,The dog barks at scentsAlong a rutted path, thenFollows me toward…
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All nights become silent and holy,Laved in the candlelight of our prayers,As muted songs of lamentation are sung,Rising as incense in autumn nights’ air.In this place of our lonely exile,Anticipation rises again in our breastsFor a child, to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem,To break the chains of our discontent,To shatter God’s silence, and…
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Wanderers on the Narrow Path In the morning solitude Sunflowers lift their heads Serenely towards the ascending light. I too wander on the narrow path To where the sun descends beyond the Yu Shan Mountains. In the morning solitude Walking Along the Liwu River Gorge Thin mist floats through the fingers of trees,An emerald forest…
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The name David Suzuki is unknown to most people residing in the States. Canadians know him as the host and narrator of the CBC science program The Nature of Things from 1979 until his retirement in 2002. Suzuki taught genetics at the University of British Columbia. He is an environmental activist. Another person relatively unknown…
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This past week I drove past the home of a couple that I briefly had known. Judy and Diane lived next door to me while I lived at a place I came to call Hermits Pond. The following is a poem I wrote for them. The poem deals with the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.…
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This morning was hospital day. This is when I make the mortgage and car payments for the doctors. A friend of mine always receives hugs when she meets with the nurses and doctors. I was greeted with a cheerful, “Good morning. Did you bring your wallet?” A hug would be nice, but, unlike my friend,…
Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal 