Fred Gillen Jr.

Poetry

Visitation

I wrote this poem to accompany Carla Rae Johnson's "Seance Series" visual art work, "Hildegard of Bingen Meets Herman Melville." You can see images here: https://carlaraejohnson.org/work/hildegard-of-bingen-meets-herman-melville/?portfolioCats=34%2C14%2C15%2C17%2C33%2C12%2C16 Years ago I composed an instrumental piece called "Hildegard," after reading a bunch about her. This can be heard here: https://fredgillenjr.bandcamp.com/track/hildegard


Visitation

He came from Polynesia
riding on the back of a great, white whale
his beard like snow
I thought he was Moses
Polynesia
To me- tender, innocent
who can fault me?
He described heaven
I didn’t understand
he was talking about good, old, brown earth.
What did I know of volcanoes?
Palm fronds to me
were angels’ wings
I looked beyond the obvious
and saw beauty
the austerity of the sea
the warmth of the sun
they told me my visions were dreams
but I knew the old man
with his snowy beard
was sent from God.
Like John the baptist,
messenger of the almighty
He told me to wait
He told me to pray
I prayed
I waited
I surrounded myself
austere as the sea
that white whale
the green angels’ wings
my constant companion
not forsaken, not forgotten
in wondrous solitude

Posted Sunday, May 15th 2022

 10/25/2023     Book-sized God
 10/25/2022     Constant Companion
 10/25/2022     Constant Companion
 10/25/2022     Circumstances
 10/3/2022     Ghosts
 05/26/2022     At the Edge of Noise
 05/26/2022     We Only Live a Day
==>05/15/2022     Visitation
 12/3/2021     Bear
 10/8/2019     Neighbors
 12/19/2018     Rain In December
 11/20/2018     Water Is Life
 07/24/2018     So Much Going Down
 02/13/2014     Post Apocalyptic Boots
 01/3/2013     Dinosaur Bones On The Side Of The Road
 03/17/2011     I Want To Know
 02/11/2011     Porch Feeder
 09/30/2009     The First Page
 08/23/2009     One More Page
 06/10/2009     Butterflies
 06/10/2009     March
 06/10/2009     March
 06/9/2009     Butterflies
 01/11/2008     Truth
 06/6/2007     Same As It Ever Was
 06/6/2007     Safe
 06/6/2007     Love's Light
 06/6/2007     One Light
 06/6/2007     Breathe
 06/6/2007     Silence
 06/6/2007     Warm Hands
 06/6/2007     Like War
 06/6/2007     Tide Pool
 06/6/2007     escaped memories
 12/15/2006     Bicycle
 08/23/2006     Tide Pool
 06/26/2006     Bear Butte
 02/25/2006     Shine
 01/5/2006     Grandmother
 07/8/2005     The Heart Inside
 04/19/2005     Winter
 11/30/2004     Broken Open
 11/6/2004     America The Beautiful (Four new verses)
 10/13/2004     Seeds
 10/13/2004     Your Laugh
 10/13/2004     Communion
 10/13/2004     Canal Street
 09/18/2004     Last Embrace
 09/18/2004     Needle
 08/7/2004     A Thousand Fireflies
 07/16/2004     Love is a Verb
 07/16/2004     Everything
 07/6/2003     Black Butterflies
 06/22/2003     Shadowy Train
 05/16/2003     Shine
 03/15/2003     Hope
 06/6/2002     Me & Cinderella
 04/4/2002     Untitled
 07/19/2001     Hudson: 12 January, 1994
 06/11/2001     Judas
 05/31/2001     Untitled
 05/16/2001     Woody
 05/16/2001     Twine
 05/16/2001     Lines


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