MOURNING DOVE
The distant cooing of the mourning dove
sounds as if it’s inside me—
insistent, rhythmic, soft and low,
resonating deep within my chest
in the vicinity of my
usually tranquil heart.
The cooing is muffled,
like my thoughts trying to
escape through time;
so many memories crowd me while
a new life calls to me.
Suddenly my poetry
breaks through the surface,
making music only I can hear
against a green landscape
bounded by a line of trees
empty of birds
where the singing must be
my own.
This poem is from the chapbook Views from the Lanai by Patricia Barry (Finishing Line Press) and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/views-from-the-lanai-by-patricia-barry/
When poet Patricia Barry moves from New York City to Palm Coast, Florida, she is overwhelmed by the iconic wildlife, particularly the magnificent birds, which she observes from the lanai behind her new home. In these deeply felt and intricately described poems, she reveals how her familiarity with osprey, herons, ibis, and the varieties of flora and fauna educates and awakens her senses. With Nature as her primary teacher, Barry gradually overcomes feelings of dislocation and isolation in the time of COVID and beyond. Her journey of exploration and self-discovery leads her to embrace this once-strange habitat as home.
Patricia Barry belongs to a long-term writing group that blossomed from noted author Madeleine L’Engle’s workshops; the group continues to meet, virtually now. She has a B.A. in English from Central Connecticut State University and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. Her love of writing and the law led her to New York City where, for thirty-three years, her practice encompassed writing appellate briefs in the workers’ compensation field. In 2018, she and her husband, Robert, retired to Palm Coast, Florida. There, inspired by native wildlife—especially the many birds—viewed from her home’s lanai, she writes poems and essays full time. As Nature opened her heart, mind, and senses to adapt to an entirely new environment, her hope is that this poetry chapbook may inspire and uplift others in their daily lives. Some of her poems have appeared in St. Anthony Messenger; The Palm Coast Observer; and Of Poets and Poetry, a publication of the Florida State Poets Association.
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