BP #85 EDITORIAL, FALL 2018

By A. M. Stickel

Enter my enchanted garden.

Attar of Ghost (2001, revised)

You meet me in the walled garden

Where shadows stray

When the night bird calls

Through glowing darkness,

Lighted by moon and stars,

Revealed as you were in life,

Reflected in the pond

Among the lilies,

Revived by love—

Your face, dove soft,

Your hair, the raven’s wing,

Your hand, rose petals’ touch,

Perfuming the silent paths,

Moving to the dance of water,

The rhythm of the breeze,

The incense of the moment…

Dream Catcher (1999)

A spider’s web like a mantilla hung,

A butterfly entangled in its lace.

Of garden wonders that we walked among,

It trapped us there, enraptured by its grace.

How like the spider, busy at our works,

We need to feed the Spirit of the day,

Then don butterfly wings of shining words,

And join God, for the moment, at His play.