Cathy Joyce Lee

Silent Sounds
 
Darkness in the winter woods
I step on shadowed trees
listening to the broken cries
of fallen, frozen leaves
 
The silent sounds I cannot hear
are conjured in my head
like empty rooms with frostbit walls
conversations with the dead
 
Whispers that I can’t discern
afraid of what they say
calling me to see their faces
I turn my eyes away
 
Frozen ponds are icy mirrors
reflecting apparitions
disembodied crystal spirits
deny the harsh conditions
 
Moonlight marking ancient trails
barbed wire walls of stone
songs are murmured in my ears
desolate, mournful tones
 
Breath borne zephyrs exhaled clouds
the rhythms of my heart
I see the shadows unknown forms
forge figures that depart
 
Ragged bark on peeling trees
thorns trap my wandering mind
snagging dreams of captive souls
past lives are intertwined
 
Maybe I should just be still
and feel the ambient words
insight, visions, premonitions
pleading to be heard
 

Cathy Joyce Lee can be found forest bathing at night and paddling on the river by day in Upstate New York. Cathy earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration. This led to her profession of writing Health and Wellness articles and offering professional development training programs to Preschool Teachers. Cathy is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and has been published in Passager and 7th-Circle Pyrite. It is the writer's hope that her poems will paint not only a picture of  charcoaled darkness, but also hope and insight.