On the Feast of All
Souls, faint stars glimmer above
The blue rosemary.
Somewhere, gray clouds creep over
The dark mountain, and an owl calls
In the still night. Somewhere, the sheep
Rustle quietly in the clover and their
Shepherds, sleeping among them,
Feel a breeze, a whisper in their slumber.
Are we in Patmos, where John saw it all
As the moon met the sea
In the dark autumn sky?
Maybe we are in our own beds
Where in our quiet breath,
The Souls speak through our fleeting dreams,
“We have not disappeared.”
Rose Anna Higashi is a retired professor of English Literature, Japanese Literature, Poetry and Creative Writing. In addition, she is a retired Lay Ecclesial Minister from the Diocese of San Jose. 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 poetry journal, Blue Wings, published by Paulist Press, is also available on her website. Her poems have appeared in The Catholic Poetry Room, Poets Online, The Ekphrastic Review, Americamedia.com, The Avocet and other publications. The editors of Poets Online nominated her for the 2025 Pushcart Prize. Rose Anna lives In Honolulu with her husband of sixty-two years, Wayne Higashi.