When I gaze into the mirror
my mother's eyes peer out
on the first day with a twinkle
on the next a wistful pout
Though our eyes are different colors
more alike we are then no
still her thoughts to me a mystery
she may never choose to show

The mirror on another day
my grandmother becomes
watching birds at breakfast
saving them the finest crumbs
Formidable and frightening
she could also often be
all too human and imperfect
still she helped to make me me

Great-grandmother another day
the mirror then became
though much lighter of complexion
now the eyes were much the same
Though a humorous and honest soul
emotions quite repressed
she affects me still more deeply
than I ever would have guessed

Today within the looking glass
the only face I see
is the youngest culmination
of these elder women three
And I see them all within me
in my talents and my quirks
still I wish that they had taught me
how to stay away from jerks.

Between the Navy or Whales
I'll choose Whales EVERY TIME

Bonnie, Bonnie Burning Bright
Patrols the wilds of her yard
Where frogs and lizards live in fear
And fearsome squirrels must ever guard

They shrink from Clydesdale for her size
Though Bonnie is the faster
Perceiving her as less a threat
Unknowing, court disaster

When Bonnie gives in to the chase
A shining blur of black and white
Yet in the sun stretched eyes half-closed
Seems farthest possible from flight

For Bonnie's vices stem entire
From being fully cat
As clearly all her virtues do
And Clydesdale's too, at that

My Bonnie is my wayward child
My friend belonging not to me
For even purring in my lap
Her tyger soul is wild and free

14Apr99

Sky Afire

It started as a tendril snaked
And quickly caught my eye
That beckoned me to come partake
The bright majestic sky

From turquoise into indigo
And all the shades between
With molten lava spreading slow
As far as could be seen

With orange and corals juxtaposed
Against the deeper blues
And silhouetted trees in pose
Amid the great bamboos

The clouds were piled in tumbling flow
And darkened as they fell
To charcoal black, blood red aglow
At meeting with the swell

And as the skyflow met the sea
And seemed to melt within
The sea took on its vibrancy
And flow began again

And as the skyflood reached its peak
Engulfing and aflame
It seemed directly to retreat
As quickly as it came

The ashen grey began above
And slowly spread below
Till all was left in pumice drifts
Within its final glow

And now the show has ended
With the sky once more a sky
And the clouds and sea appended
For a witness such as I

3 Oct 2000

Dogs offer unconditional love
we,
if intelligent,
strive to emulate

There is a strangeness in fog
that is palpable
and perhaps it is the strangeness in me
which responds

It is no accident I know
that I was raised
where fog is legend
and so remains
a cloying fact of life
for coastal Sunny California
is coldly blanketed each morning
six months of every year
in chilly dampness

What once was familiar
now changed
hidden within soft billows
of clouds brought to earth
the monotonous drip
from the leaves of the trees
the eaves of the roof
the rocks on the hillsides . . .
stars and planets obscured
only the mysterious moon
peeks through the diaphanous veil
lighting her shroud from above

now moving
now shifting
a glimpse of . . . something
caught
only to disappear once more
deep within the flowing haze

Yet where others find in fog
a thing to fear
I find in it a pleasure
seldom found elsewhere
for me familiar comfort
in the heavy grey mist
enveloping me
as a blanket of spirit
or ancestors

And perhaps it is this
the others fear
for the spirits of fog
can be cunning and cruel
hiding dangers
from those unwary
or disrespectful

But I miss the fog
laying low upon the cliffs
turning ordinary landscape
into otherworldly and strange

I long for the lonely cries
of the foghorn at sea
and should the sea monster come
I pray it finds
the love it seeks

Cori MacNaughton
19Jan2007

Cats are here
to love
and to teach us humility

Depression might not
be helped by a book that starts
with a suicide

It's amazing how baby animals
renew our zest for life

The illusion of freedom
in a democratic republic in decline

A Moment in Life Twice Lost to Time
The Swiss watch is my paradigm
Residing now ‘neath Tampa Bay
A moment in life twice lost to time

The gift, from a wall of ice to climb
In Luxembourg where I did stay
The Swiss watch becomes my paradigm

Research belaying the banker's crime
Through valleys green, o'er bridges grey
A moment in life twice lost to time

While belching diesels share their grime
And church bells call all souls to pray
This watch, my truest paradigm

In this city from another time
In Europe's heart I found my way
A moment in life twice lost to time

Returning from this land sublime
My walls and battlements fell away
Rodania watch, my paradigm
A moment in life twice lost to time

2 March 2000

Upon a magic afternoon
I met you in the fall
together finding haven
else oblivious to all

I birthdays hold in high regard
you held yours in disdain
first yours then mine crept past us
pointing out the years between

Companionship was natural
but separation hard
I knowing what I know today
those years would disregard

For you, who waited, drew last breath
'Till spring shall come no more
dwell in this haven of my heart
eternity and more

Explosions in the Sky
bringing renewed hope
for our humanity

Oh Lord, Take my Potential
And do with it what you will
For I squander opportunity
And fear I always will

I seek to love and honor you
And some days find my way
Yet the next will find me wanting
As myself do I betray

I seek to know and understand
The purpose I am serving
The thing that I most fear
Is that you find me undeserving

So I study and I scramble
For the tiniest attainment
And take solace in the truth
I am providing entertainment

1999

I feel great pain as the harpoon finds
the whale once more, I hear the boom
as explosion thunders, rips apart
the body, sinew and beating heart
as blood and tissue spread and drift

And shark, the lesser predator
nears and circles the carnage 'till
the struggle ends, the whale stills.
The sea once more is filled with loss
that might, had we more courage, been avoided

Cori MacNaughton
26August2003

Language
is one of my favorite things
for which I displayed
an early facility
I toyed with foreign languages
but went no further
it wasn’t where I wanted
to spend my time

I wanted to save the whales
improve education
fight poverty
protect our environment
a whole host of causes
I visited in a repeating cycle
whirling faster and faster until

I created my own vortex
and then found myself
at the far end of a wormhole
with no idea how I got there
much less how to return
and found myself observing
every time I behaved badly
in excruciating detail

A tactless comment
a thoughtless act
each small transgression
building stone by stone
until I created a fortress
walling myself within
this invisible shield

When we touch
is it you or me
who feels remotely?

All dissolves into Oneness.

17 July 2005

Exhausted
old
he exerts himself
no longer

Nothing left
no energy to expend
for simple
useless
survival

He does not eat
or sleep
but calmly closes his eyes
dying
at last
drifting with the tide
and
returns once more
to land

First day, a new job,
driving to Chattanooga -
new chapter begins.

Nestled purring 'neath my chin
the only cat who hugs

Babies - of what do they dream?
What thoughts play behind those closed eyes,
Those eyes so like others before
Unfocused and newly revealed?

What is it in holding a child
That brings such a tranquility?
That puts the world's problems at bay
And shows what is truly at stake?

Perhaps when they dream they become
The person they one day shall be
In full philosophical garb
So leading us to what will come

Or maybe it simply is shapes
And colors so formless and free
A way to make sense of the world
They sample with unfocused eyes

2Apr2002

Thoughtful inquiry
beginning the journey of
imagination

Morning is lovely and cool
puppy is scratching himself
kitties await being fed
goats in their stall want to browse
chickens are seeking new ground
doves cooing soft in their cage
I want to go back to bed.

My newest buddy
baby goat Vortex
climbs my leg and
wants to be scratched

His brother Hope
bewildered
is seemingly convinced
that I will eat him where he stands

I tell them often
I love you both
and if it's up to me
you will both die here
of ripe old age

Awakened by cannonfire,
unmistakable,
LOUD.
Today is Luxembourg National Day

My breathing slows
my mind is stilled
my spirit rises
Falun Gong

The evening weeps
in empathy
an evil steals
echoes of souls

As One we join
our sanctity
in supplication
to Divine

As more among us
simply vanish
Disappeared
without a trace

You asked me to say what I believe
What do I hold precious and why
I believe in the Glory of life on Earth
I believe it essential to fly

We live in a Universe unto itself
Its diversity not fully known
As we tread in the pathways of those gone before
Where in truth we are never alone

I believe that each enemy might be a friend
For their circumstance comes of a need
I believe that all people are One in the end
No matter their color or creed

I believe in humanity deep in the soul
Which enlightens the Spirit to see
I believe that creation was born out of love
And enables the soul to be free

30 Sept 2000

How can four computers
fail in the same way
simultaneously?

The man who makes me laugh,
love, think, consider, strive

If Dog is best friend
then Cat, my sweet little love,
is my soul’s tonic

Within every face we see, also, a mirror
within every silence, a breath
within every soul is the path growing clearer
within every lifeform, a death

Our stuff is the stuff of the planets and quarks
existing as one in this space
'till that universe distant and showering sparks
stands ready to take this one's place

A day is as a thousand years
a thousand years as a day
yet human psyche interferes
and would find a better way

The thing that most matters, which few understand
for which many continue to die
is that Unification of Physics Grand
I am you, as you are I

Gallows humor
is far better
than no humor at all

Wavering resolve
why is it so difficult
to be kind to self?

Well I've gone and done it
I've gone and been true to myself
stood up for what I believe
and said so out loud
to the one most important to me
consequences be ******.

I'm sorry you could not do the same
afraid of what the fallout might be
yet in seeing your struggles
I knew what I could not be
and it made me stronger.

You made me stronger
in your choice to never
stamp your weaknesses upon me
in encouraging my choices
and questioning my doubts
and in showing me
that I had your respect.

Thank you Momma.
I love you and miss you.

Strange Territory
the wilds of the human mind
unfathomable

Memories
can keep you hostage
to inaccurate and painful illusion

The Celtic Cross
Around my neck is often seen
An ancient sign
Of where I go and, too, have been

The cross more ancient
Than the Christ oft signified
A mere expedient
To Rome when Jesus died

Although I wear it in His name it further goes
To those whom Hadrian so feared he built his wall

The land where rivals are the thistle and the rose
Where the blood of all my forbears once did fall

As their mingling souls in Heaven thence arose
The stones within the mist cast silent pall

Cori MacNaughton
8Mar99

Rabbit sits lonely and still.
At first she had two beaus,
now none.
By herself in  her roomy cage,
never bred, never kindled,
a spinster at two and a half.

Cats angling to be fed
An entertaining start to morning

Spring
that lovely season of planting
and praying they'll grow

Wooden Bowls and Wooden Spoons
items ***** and mundane
draw me into my shared history
with my foremothers
and theirs before them

The sharing of these simple things
of chopping, stirring, baking
snipping herbs and crafting soup
smoked meat served on wooden platters
such as might have been used
a hundred years ago
or ten thousand -

Wood has served us from the dawn of Humankind
as fuel for the fire
as shelter from the storm
as living trees producing oxygen
as things of beauty and inspiration,
of poignancy and pathos

There is a warmth to wood
absent in gold or sterling
the warmth of life - still with us
and once the meat is gone
the platter will cleanse itself of impurities
with the defenses remaining
from the tree it once was
protecting us yet again
keeping us safe from the dangers
outside of the circle of wood

With wood comes the danger of fire
this danger I accept
and brave the fire I will
to have the wood with me
to walk beneath and smell the perfume of the leaves
to feel them crunch beneath my feet
to see the earthworms retract
as I toe them from the path

I want my life to end
having given more than I have taken
and giving trees brings me joy
and makes the world a better place
a place in which there will never be too few trees
to be able to enjoy the feel
of wooden bowls and wooden spoons
where endless forests and healthy woods
add to this miraculous planet of Life

Cori MacNaughton
Apr 2002

Love, Intention and mindfulness
change the world for the better

I’ve been your friend for life
not because of what you can give me
but because you bring out
the best that is in me.

6 August 2015

We returned from our trip
to our rabbit's sad loss

A century-long killing spree
(Still pales next to Religion)

Cat on the pillow next to me
dog at the foot of the bed
sounds of the rain
and the woods outside my window
October begins
with the promise of autumn

Autumn has long been
my favorite season
my October birthday
no doubt the cause
as nature takes a measured breath
between the excesses of summer
and winter's extremes

In the woods
damp leaves soften our steps
on the gravel between
a flurry of fall flowers
seeking to entice the bees
and butterflies
and mushrooms are everywhere

this verdant place
awash with life
in all her wondrous forms
this gift of being
never to be taken
lightly
or for granted

Upon a tree I chanced to see
a travel weary bumblebee
frustrated in his search for nectared flower
Upon a flower he did light
and died upon that second night
though I would sooner stay that fateful hour

A lesson learned by such as I
who from afar must feel you die
and dying too myself in tiny leaps
But you are gone and I am here
my soul is numb, my mind unclear
my vision so contracts to He who sleeps

Recalling the wedding anniversary
from the disaster I'd rather forget

Why won’t you just die?
It’s past time you know
To give up the ghost and move on
The strength of your spirit
The fight for each breath
Inspiring and wrenching as one

Why won’t you give up
Your struggle to live?
It’s hard to both love you and see
The length you will go to
To take one more breath
Prolonging your own misery

Why don’t you just die?
You’ve nothing to fear
An end to your pain is at hand
Your time here has ended
A door has been closed
But another awaits your command.

20Dec2000

Happy Father's Day to my dad, Horace Edwin Donaldson, known to one and all as Eddie, who was born 26 July 1917, and died 21 Dec 2000.  
I love you and miss you.

Not all babies are meant to live
No matter the reason why
No matter the life we long to give
Some babies are born to die

Some say such a short life holds no worth
But disagree I must
For the lessons they impart from birth
By example teaching us

22 Dec 2000

I have a poem, a wandering wraith
to capture you I tried
in putting pen to paper
of my feelings when you died

But feelings are elusive things
especially when acute
and I have felt my words betray
my heart and leave it mute

Someday the poem may finished be
and then it will be known
of gifts you oft conferred to me
of love not said, but shown

But still my mind my heart betrays
eschews my fervent call
your dwelling place my heart these days
as tears unbidden fall

28 Dec 2002