Two poems by Sharon Lopez Mooney

"Her last day" and "Love affair with the sea"

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Her last day

Delicately she sits cross legged in monk mode
proving to no one but herself she still can,
she, candle flame’s tentative flicker of life
used up, black strand in waxy wet alone
but her flame will not go
out today, she wonders if she is
only a breathing metaphor
in one two, out one two
not made of real flesh and bone
telling stories of what it means to try,
she waits, night’s lust clutches her
promising release and ease
in airless shadows, but relentlessly
returns each evening,
her hope shudders, forever flees
flashing out of reach,
rope and footstool pause in the quiet,
she’s resisted their invitation
but only for today

Photo by Bart on Unsplash

Love affair with the sea

There are no trees
showing off emeralds
no grass skirt hills rolling gracefully,
there is the sea
the sea of salt and sassy fish who chase
the whales or orcas avoiding seals,
fish from deep undercurrents
swirling into warm waters
feverishly fertilizing new lain eggs
while the sea feeds and cleans the coral reefs,
all this abundance carries
the flow of hope, dark and cool
all this precious power
beneath the grey soft surface
of this morning’s
sea waters sheltering
the hum of living
in its slow
inventible tide

About the author: Sharon Lopez Mooney, poet, is a retired Interfaith End of Life Chaplain, living in Sonora Mexico, and part-time in Northern California. Mooney received a California Arts Council Grant for a rural poetry series; was a ’22 “Best of the Net” nominee, a “Peseroff Prize” finalist, and received two other publisher’s honors. Mooney’s poems are published national & international publications like, “Ginosko, California Quarterly, Galway Review, Tipton Poetry, Kennings Literary Journal". Her upcoming poetry book, “Cantata for a Desert Poet” will be published in 2024 by “Arteidolia Press”. Mooney’s poems indexed at: www.sharonlopezmooney.com