Downstream
by
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Strolling the Neighborhood at 70
The neighborhood lies in subtraction of fall,
leaves piled at curbs like burial mounds,
skeletal branches bend gently
against the gray sea of clouds,
a frosty wind chills my cheek.
At forty I would not have noticed.
Unseen, sap recedes into soil’s dark loam
safe from winds, snow,
readies itself for spring’s summons,
hope etched into the fabric of things.
Despair will not overcome
the promise of possibility.
A thought to reflect on at 70,
like Easter!
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About the Book
These poems reflect a dimension of human awareness that has been celebrated in many venues by many people: Carl Jung, Richard Rohr, Judith Viorst, David Maitland, Anthony DeMelo, and Buddhist practitioners among many others. Put simply,the first half of life is filled with ascent: achievement and upward effort. In the second half of life a descent begins to occur characterized by increasing wisdom and reflection.
About the Author
Gordon Forbes estimates that in forty years of ministry he has written the equivalent of seven 400 page books. He is the Author of "SOWER, SEED, SOIL: SERMONS AND POEMS FROM A MAINLINE CHURCH, published in 2000. In 1998 his poems appeared at the Spectrum Gallery in Georgetown D.C. and the Strathmore Arts Center,Bethesda Maryland. In May of 2000 six poems responding to the work of watercolorist Robert E. Grant were shown at the Eli Marsh Gallery at Amherst College, Amherst Massachusetts. In 2002 three poems were included in "September Eleven:Maryland Voices", published by the Baltimore Writer's Alliance. In addition three of his poems were selected to appear in the Poet's Gallery of the Montgomery County Executive Office Building