A Reflection for All Soul’s Day
At dusk I sit among the oleanders
As crickets call from their tree cloisters.
The three-quarter moon is already luminous
In the lavender sky;
The air seems filled with beings—
Perhaps the exhalations of those whose souls
Still touch the secret-keeping pines,
Still linger in shady places
Beneath the clean blue blossoms of the rosemary.
I inhale the sacred evening,
Keep within me the sound of bells
My ears have long since ceased to hear.
My dog and I breathe the same cadence,
And as the last light slips into the gloaming,
I feel the prayers of those who love us
In the world beyond the autumn moon.
Rose Anna Higashi is a retired professor of English Literature, Japanese Literature, Poetry and Creative Writing. She writes a monthly blog, Tea and Travels, which appears on her website, www.myteaplanner.com, where many of her lyric poems and haiku are published. Her poems have also appeared recently on Americamedia.com, the Ekphrastic Review, Poets Online, Agape Review and The Avocet. Rose Anna lives in rural Hawaii with her husband Wayne.