Of Concrete and Glass
Caitlin McColl
OF CONCRETE AND GLASS
CAITLIN MCCOLL
Copyright © 2015 Caitlin McColl
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9781310365126
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PREFACE
This small book of poetry spans more than ten years, and completed in 2011. I wrote 'The Maple Leaf', that begins the book back in Grade 10 as a high school class exercise. Even now I am still in love with it after all these years.
We walk a fine line between the light and the dark...
This book contains poems about the beauty of nature: that of the natural world that surrounds us and the cities we live in, as well as human nature. This is contrasted with poems that deal with the heart of darkness that can be found in humanity, and the strange and shadowy aspects within society and ourselves.
The 'Dawn' section is generally lighter, happier and more positive in tone. The 'Twilight' poems are darker, more sinister and strange.
I hope you enjoy my foray into the light, and the dark.
~ Caitlin McColl
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
DAWN
The Maple Leaf
Butterflies
Dragonfly
Centaur
Golden Sun
Home
Avalon
Lightwalker 1
Lightwalker 2
Freedom of Being
Spirit Bear
Cosmic Rainbows
Solstice
Rainbow Fish
Wanderlust
Possibilities
Silent Sentry
Lazy Days
Quantum Life
Little Gods
Everyday Magic
Phoenix
Scales
TWILIGHT
The Darkest Hour
Our World’s Demise
The Pool
Jack
Statuesque
The Tides
Lost
Found
Doppleganger
Modern Warrior
The Red Sky
Nightstalker 1
Nightstalker 2
Peripheral Vision
Modern Vampire
Reflections
Water Whispers
Midnight Cove
Tree of Life
The Timeless
Starbucks Society
Under Starry Skies
The Blood of a Dead Poet
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is my first book of published poetry.
I would like to thank Marie Land for designing my beautiful cover.
DAWN
The Maple Leaf
The symbol of our country,
Lying dead on the ground.
The redness has faded,
The leaf has been crushed.
Is this the proud symbol of Canada?
Thrown about in the wind,
Carelessly tossed and unnoticed
By strangers, bustling about.
Is this the proud symbol of Canada?
A plain, little leaf,
Painted on our nations flag,
Hardly the size of our hands,
The maple leaf on the ground.
Butterflies
Butterflies dance
above the flowers
Like ethereal beings
No worries or cares
Just beauty and simplicity
Transformation and freedom
Personified
Ironically
bobbing and floating
Like puppets on strings
Being pulled about
amateurishly
By an unseen hand
Dragonfly
Majestic metallic
Armour glinting
Flitting and hovering
Alighting briefly
Gossamer membranes
Frozen aloft in midair
Brilliant blues, Fiery reds
No ferocity or flames
Only beauty
And serenity
Centaur
She walks from the darkness,
into the light
Brushing leaves from her face
as she does
The coolness of the forest ends
it is bright
The comfort of her home,
the camouflage gone
Her long chestnut hair
blends into one with her body
and covers her breast
She walks unsure,
unsteady on four legs
She has never before
left the forest
Into this new world nothing like her own
She stamps a hoof
and swishes her tail
She knows she has to make the journey
All of her kind eventually do
And with the knowledge that she will always be welcome
She takes her first tentative steps
Into the unknown
Outside of the forest
The cocoon she has grown up in,
experiences are limitless
She feels like flying,
her heart soars
She is free
Golden Sun
They come into our lives
Some stay only briefly
Other stay for parts
Still others for a lifetime
People come into our lives
In so many ways
And leave us
Just as mysteriously
When someone has left your life
By passing, moving on
They are always with you,
Always part of who you are
Whether they were in your life
Just briefly,
Or maybe a little longer
They all make an imprint
on your soul
Like the golden sun
Shining through closed eyes
You are forever changed
By everyone you meet
Home
Synonymous with rain
Green glass glinting in the spring
and summer sun
Majestic lions look down from above
Surrounding a glittering sea
Passersby politely gawk
At celebs in trendy
Robson Street eateries
Stanley Park an emerald oasis
In a modern forest
of concrete and glass
Not just a city,
A breath of fresh air
Avalon
Ancient, mystical,
Lush and savage land
Veils of mist part
Only for those
True of heart
Meant to learn
Its secrets
Lightwalker 1
Bathed in universal love
Freed from the grasp of
darkness
Unfettered by preconceptions
Singing the songs
Of joy and purpose
Surrounded by
a radiant aura
An angel in our midst
Walking on a pathway of
light
The being that is
Pure Happiness
Lightwalker 2
Surrounded by
a pink and
gold tinged glow
Pure unconditional
emotion, unexplai
nable
Unable to put into words
Soul experiences
Caring for humanity
Forever flowing
Unlimited
on an atomic level
The reality of
Love
Freedom of Being
Running swiftly
Galloping
Chestnut fur flowing
gracefully
Shining richly in sunlight
Big golden eyes
Full of love and hugs
when we hurt
Nuzzling our face
Exploring with all his being
every blade of grass
tree, fence, lamp
Intense unwavering focus
Nothing in the universe matters
Except the Ball
Spirit Bear
Droplets hang from sagging boughs
Of tall, dark pines
Enveloped in thick mist
Deep in the rugged wilderness of
the Pacific Northwest
Passing between the trees
A ghostly figure treads silently,
The local people whisper reverently
About a mystical, powerful creature
One rarely seen, almost imagined
Like that of the
Sasquatch
Cosmic Rainbows
Flowing like a cosmic curtain
Across the starlit sky
The cold North
and barren South
Awash with shimmering light
The magical rainbow sways
like a celestial dancer
Orchestrated by the universe
Solstice
Slivers of amber
Filter through the window
The room on fire
Towards the distant hill
Silhouetted yet ablaze in gold
Stands a figure in long robes
Long hair blowing in a bitter wind
Arms outstretched heavenward
Welcoming the season
The time of change
When Mother earth retreats
Like the phoenix
To be restored again
Rainbow Fish
I had a dream once,
of strange unusual creatures
A bat with one wing,
like a sail, on its back
A beautiful fish with a
rainbow frilled mane
brilliant blue
dotted and striped
with splashes of yellow
green and purple
And a tiny mouse
with electric fur
living in the desert
becoming electrically charged
by frequent thunderstorms
I had a dream in which all
these unique creatures were
dying
If they existed,
would we turn a blind eye?
As with the Panda
and Bengal Tiger
Wanderlust
Dark Hills
Velvet curtain
A lone figure silhouetted
Against the vast starless sky
Walking onward
Unperturbed
By cold and
Relentless animals
Always moving
Never stopping
Wanderlust
Fills his soul
Possibilities
Soaring over the grass
And blue black hills
In far away lands
I am a bird, a butterfly, a moth
Feeling the cool breeze
Whipping past
Catching a warm up-draft
and floating, swirling, peaceful
My mind wanders
from its task
And again
I put pen to paper
Silent Sentry
Sun beats down
On snow-capped mountains
Frigid waters
And majestic forest
Peaceful, serene
A contrast
To traffic jams
Crowded streets and buses
The pollution and din
Of a city and its people, living life
Surrounded by glass and concrete
While being silently watched over
By the snow-capped mountains
Lazy Days
The soft cool grass
between your toes
The comforting warmth
of the sun on your hair
The subtle fragrance of
flowers, a cocoon
The low rumble of bees
an elixir
Whisking you away from reality
Floating away from the everyday
Just being
Until the ubiquitous cellphone
Yanks you back down
to earth
Quantum Life
Ordered – Chaos
Symbolism – Synchronicity
Global events – Personal actions
Seem random – But infinitesimally planned
All people – All things
Are pure energy – That is organized
Little Gods
Millions of little gods
Surround us, omnipresent
Assisting with everyday mundane
Survival – Earth, Fire, Water, Air
Inside of us
They are our being
They are energy
Everyday Magic
The concrete
beneath my feet
Turns to velvety soft grass
The stone bricks
and pillars of buildings
fade into trees
Exhausts become
a fragrant breeze
a light mist
The honking cars
turn into herds
of fragile deer
Window panes
Turn to glassy lakes
and calm streams
Shining back my reflection
All people around me
vanish
City noise becomes
the buzzing drone of bees
and the chirp of birdsong
Just imagine
Phoenix
As the sun rises
Slowly over the horizon
The phoenix,
Like you,
Is reborn
As the first rays of light
Flow over the land
You,
Like the phoenix,
Come to life again
The phoenix bursts forth
To accomplish all it can
Before, in the dying light,
Under a starlit sky
It's life is extinguished
If only briefly
Only to be restored again
With the energy
Of the sun
Scales
Translucent
Shimmering body of armour
Weighing hearts and deeds
and future possibilities
Measuring darkness and light
infinity and vastness
The scales of animal
The scales of justice
The scales of the universe
