Closing Season: A Poet's Latelife Reflections

by Joseph Murray

Eclectic is the range of topics and genres in this collection of poetry and prose in four sections. ✦“Heartbeat of Gaia,” micro and macro perspectives on the natural world, emphasizing its fragility from global warming. A sample from the many chirping birds banish
dragons of night butterfly
sings in burnt orange ✦“Spirit Over Life’s Waters,” The interior life, especially as supported by meditation. Stanzas from a longer seek out the sea
salt your soul with
it's self-possession

allow your query
to ebb with the tide
answer will be woven
in ocean’s foam
✦”Republic on the precipice,” political and social issues, especially the precarious state in which democracy finds itself. Stanzas from a longer history warns of cruelty
in the guise of security
becoming a ready tool
in a ruler’s hand for

quietly overlaying fifty
stars on a ground of blue
with that hellish emblem
black on a bloodred field ✦”A Life From Within,” memorable events in the author’s life, including vivid wartime memories of his Austrian wife. Stanzas from a longer why to the sea? could it be
constancy of tide and wave?
power to crush rock to sand?
patience to polish stones?

or to share loneliness
with sea and sky?

174 pages, Paperback

Published November 27, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Other authors publishing under this name are:

Joseph Murray
Joseph Murray, born 1896
Joseph Murray, born 1958
Joseph Murray, born 1976
Joseph Murray, Esq., Advocate