The Days In Careful Measure, 1980/Prophetic Voices, 1995

Herewith, the latest selection from dusted-off published poetry and short fiction, circa 1970s vintage and beyond....

Homage to a Pure Spirit

Starlost girl of
Amsterdam, Dear Anne,
my sister
my daughter
my self. Your
haunting eyes and
yearning words
recalled the sun
and cerulean sky.
Missing bright poppies
and yourself flighting

green meadows after
elusive butterflies
you set down your
hopes and fears
hidden from the rabid thunder.
You knew the sweetness
a future of universal love.

Shedding rageless tears
(chaste rain from
a faith filled soul)
you were doomed by the
juggernaut of inevitability.
Now your words live on
ringing this earth

in every colour
of the alphabet
to enshrine belief.
The tears that you evoke
Anne,
kindle pacific bloom
to a pure flame of faith.

c. 1980 Rita Rosenfeld
Published by Fiddlehead Poetry Books
in "The Days in Careful Measure"