Glimpsed in Passing

These poems come from the beauty of the glimpsed moment … a precious jewel held for a short time amid the pain and sorrow of the world, then let go into the bigger picture … The beauty is what we remember, what gives the moment its significance.It’s the way it’s always been:to reach the sea, to stand watching, waiting; to knowthat nothing can be unravelledto its corebut is like reflectingwhere wild flowers gathered in a vase, framedby a shore cottage windowmake of themselvesa sea-wide subject: the beauty of things together.A blackbird sings and the song echoesin fragments of memory.Joy Mead is a member of the Iona Community and the author of The One Loaf, Making Peace in Practice and Poetry, Where are the Altars?, Words and Wonderings and A Way of Knowing, all published by Wild Goose Publications. She has been involved in development education and justice and peace work and occasionally leads creative writing groups.