We Can Only Wonder

When we read about the torture of other human beings, their deprivation and humiliation, and still . . . their continued will to survive, despite the horrors endured, we can only wonder at how immense the human spirit must be. Conversely, it is hard to conceive of what exists in the minds of torturers, what levels of consciousness they dwell in, when one tries to believe they are human beings who walk among us on this earth.

There is a vast expanse of human experience, a wide spectrum of evidence that suggests to me . . . humanity is as mysterious as its Creator. We continue to uncover such darkness and suffering, unbelievable inhuman cruelties that leave us to wonder how and when mankind will ever evolve past these deadly sins. It is only the witness of those beings who, in their simple acts of loving kindness and compassion, raise humanity above its own gravity and allow us glimpses of what we can become.

The Aftermath

We have witnessed sorrow and it will not go away.
We have felt it in our veins and it is everywhere.
The world still reels in shock from September 11.
Like an earthquake, tremors ripple in our consciousness.
Vivid dreams of that fateful day replace our silent slumber.
Threats come and go and every time we think it’s over
terror strikes again in one form or another.
Here, there, everywhere, the world is shaking
and we are standing at attention, waiting for the next wave.

Life, for many, is changed forever.
We no longer play the games of little children,
sitting safely in our huts, for we are far more fragile
than we want to know.

The Center of the Bull’s Eye,
arrows point at us from furtive nations
and we see their plots in every morning’s news.
Like a sitting duck, we wait for the unknown,
as the ground beneath us trembles.
Oceans that once kept us safe and separate,
no longer fill their duty. . . .
bandwidths have replaced our bridges.
The enemy lives within our borders and computers
And our boundaries are no longer clear.

In spite of this reality,
we are still a nation of heart and compassion,
a nation of faith and great blessings.
We have always been a haven for the oppressed
and our streets are speckled with every race, color and creed.
Our doors and ports were always open
and for this we’ve paid the price.
Even our dirty laundry flies at the wind in daylight.
Perfect . . . we are certainly not. All loving . . . we wish we could be.
All forgiving . . . we have a long way to go.
But in God our trust lies and in our spirit is the freedom to grow and learn
what it takes to be truly human.
Peace is a dream we’ll never see in our lifetime or any other,
But it’s the striving for it . . . that will change the world.


Joanne Cucinello 2002

There Is a River

The ancients say there is a river
a river red and made of blood,
a river that flows inside the body
pumped through a cavernous organ
we have come to call the heart ~

This is the Cavern where love lives.
In and out, the great river flows
watering all its tiny capillaries
feeding every speck it finds.

Into tributaries, brooks and streams . . .
the rivulets of life, it rushes,
nourishing the soil of our flesh
our mountains of calcified bone ~
and the sympathetic organs
that kindly keep time
even as we sleep ~ watering, watering
this wondrous clay we are made of.

Joanne Cucinello 2010

(Artwork:Photobucket.com/bryansamdub)

Sand Castles and Waves

Such a dilemma
for a child who needs to hold on
to the things she'd made.
Six years old on the planet back then
so many toys I'd wished for
had to stay wishes since
even Santa, lectured my parents, . . . was poor!

But there at the beach
all the wet sand was free!
Free to build anything I wanted
and I did!
Castles, caves and secret tunnels
and the deep dreaded hole.

We were told by my parents
that if we kept digging
we could get to the other side of
the world . . . and we'd know we got there
when a Chinaman's head popped up
through the sand.

So we'd dig and stop, my brother and I,
dig and stop, taking turns wondering who
would be the one to see that head of
shiny black hair emerge.
Scared and excited, holding our breath
as we dug to the other side of the earth
reserved for our adventure.

When the afternoon sun began its way home
behind the waves, we'd sit wrapped in towels
waiting for the ripples of ocean's tide
that never failed to come and wash away
our castles, and fill our deep hole with shells
so we could sleep without fear
of that head popping up
from the other side of the world.

Joanne Cucinello 2010

Torch Songs

Please understand . . .
when I heard that song on the radio
and you saw me get so dark and quiet
it wasn't you . . . it was the music.
I know it's beautiful,
and I know you love it, but
I begin to drown inside
with every chord.

It moves right in and takes me over
like the cold dark ocean
rolling onto shore.
I change . . .
my heart begins to pound
and my fingers freeze.
I feel like a little girl locked in time.

The music of my mother
the love songs, torch songs
the dark nights and muffled sounds
echoes of a broken heart
crumpled in the corner of a room.

It just begins to happen when I hear
the notes curl downward
like that melody she sang
that never ended . . .
that image of my Mother
in her long black nightgown
lying cold on the floor
while the record kept turning
round and round
the needle skipping
in the same scratched spot
~ till they found her.

Joanne Cucinello 2010

All the Way to the End

I was never the one to seek out ecstasy.
You must know that by now . . .
yet even then when the blush
was blooming, I'd lay in awe
and listen to your heartbeat
enraptured knowing you were mine.
We loved like the sun and moon
finding our own rhythm
glowing and dimming
always returning to the place
where we began.

Back then . . . it was the flesh
impatient to climb the mountain
to cling like moss to the rock it found.
We were young and beautiful
shining even in the dark
you and I, always yearning
always hungry for more.
Little did we know
that "more" grows deeper in the soil
than moss that climbs so visible.
"More" grows deep beneath the flesh.

Years have passed and time
has changed these bodies drawing lines
across our flesh
but here we are, my love . . . still singing.

Even now . . .
when I come to you
my beauty less than yesterday
your eyes still say I'm beautiful
for what you see is more
and I know that it's your love
that holds my soul and blesses me
and I will love you . . . to the end.

Joanne Cucinello 2010

In the Beginning . . . There Was War

She lay there in the dark
walls of Fallopia
She . . .
expelled from her safe
ovarian nest
She . . .
one of many,
this moon’s offering
to the god of fertility.

Throughout Fallopia
there is trembling
awaiting the great sacrifice.

She could hear their battle cries
far off in the distance
the vast and furious army of Sperm,
propelled through the tubes
of Fallopia
in one great seminal wave.

The frenzied race begins.
Blind though they are,
rapt by some ancient ritual
they struggle up the
dark and twisted passage way
to where she lay in wait for the attack.

One by one they strike,
her armor weakened with each blow
‘til soon her vanquished ovum doors split open
there . . . the Champion enters . . . the sacrifice complete
amidst the whirling chaos. . . a soul is born.

In the beginning . . there was war . . .this is the stuff we are made of.

Joanne Cucinello 2007

Rim of Gold

At the edge of my body
lies a rim of gold.
I am encased in light.
I am alive within my soul
which surrounds me
and remembers
who I am.

My feet touch the earth
that I alone inhabit
this speck of space material.
The earth connects me to
the core of my body ~
the sky receives the rays
of my soul.

When I leave this place
I will shed my skin
like an overcoat
my bones will turn to ash
and I will step out
into forever
all my colors shining

my true heart ablaze and ready
for the ride back home
where they will know me
and greet me
like a new born child
arrived with gifts wrapped
into my swaddling clothes

and I will give them all my earthly pearls
the remnants of their grace bestowed.

Joanne Cucinello 2010

Wishbone

I swam last night
weightless, floating
on a dark quiet sea
unafraid
peaceful and serene
as if I had done it
all my life . . .
a dream gift
a wishbone I won as a child
tucked in my pillowcase

. . . I swam last night!

Joanne Cucinello

Under the Summer Sky

Little bugs have found a home on my blanket here
the sweet green grass pokes through its shabby holes.

I have found a bit of peace this summer in the country
listening . . . watching . . . pondering
the way the clouds pass over the sun to cool me
the business of bugs doing their jobs so well
hoping as they run off with my crumbs
that I won't spy them . . . little thieves!

I have a feeling that they have ceased speaking
to their relatives . . . the roaches, who insist on
reading and nibbling your class papers
when night falls in that city school room.

A brook nearby, babbling its cool delicious bubbles
is tempting me to chuck these sneakers
and find a bit of ecstasy on the slippery rocks
maybe even get my ass a little wet
and squat . . . like a child who doesn't care
about green stained britches.

You must come here one day and listen
even the grass has something to say . . .

Joanne Cucinello

Yes, You Are Mine

I called you out of the darkness
a soul who became my child.
I don't recall the moment in time
or sleep or daydreams . . .
but I know deep down I did
and now you are here
a soul in body tangible
with cells and genes much
like my own.

I did not know the form
you would take
or how I would feel when I
looked into your shining eyes
that first moment
and all the moments to come
in our lives together
but I want you to know
today and forever
that your life was not a mistake
nor a wanton windblown excuse

You are all I asked for
you have shown me who I am
so many times and helped me face
my truth, my strengths, my weakness,
my sorrows and my joys.

You have grown through
all your pains and asked me
"Why was I born ?"
as you struggled
for your human heart.
But I know . . . yes, I know.

You are my promise, my blessing.
You were born to be my Child
and I was born to love you.

Joanne Cucinello 2010

Then I Knew

I thought
when I first saw you
that perhaps you'd be the one

but then
I remembered thinking that way
once before and I was wrong

once before
so wrapped up in my loneliness
I just took a chance with someone new

just needing
that someone to fill the empty space
I guarded with my heart

but that space
stayed empty even when he held me
even when we kissed . . . I heard no bells

even though
we smiled and walked together
it was nothing more than passing time

That's why
I had to taste your kiss
bold as I was, I did it, kissed your lips

I couldn't wait
for you to steal the chance
that night, I had to know if it was true

Your lips, so soft, so warm
made stars came out behind the moon
that kiss . . . made all the world stand still
, , , and then I knew.

Joanne Cucinello 2010

The Well of Grief

She has fallen, yes.
We see her lying there, down deep
at the bottom,
but she struggles not.

“Grab the ropes!” we shout.
“Someone . . . anyone
go down there and bring her up!”

We call to her, we shout
“Hang on . . . help is coming!”
But we listen and we look . . .
she struggles not.

We stop . . . we listen . . . hear an echo
She is singing soft, a lullaby.
We stop . . . we look now deeper.
A shadow . . . of another form
is lying there beside her
and she stokes his soft unknowing hair.

“You are my beloved”
we hear her whisper, but the form lies
still and cold beside her.
“Hang on . . . help is coming!” we shout again
and drop the rope.
“Help is coming!” but she struggles not.

“Move away” a young shining stranger says,
“I am going down.”
And as he makes his long descent
light surrounds him,
glowing embers flutter down upon her face.




“Lift your eyes, Mother. Lift your arms.
Come with me . . . grab the rope..
I will carry you . . . as once you carried me.
Come Mother,
you cannot wake my shadow
for I live in light now. . .
You will not find me here.”

“Mother, I am always with you.
Like the branches of one tree,
you and me.
When you sing . . . I sing.
When you cry . . . I cry.
With your happiness . . . I shine and dance with glee!”

“Mother, set me free.
Let go my shadow and you will hear my voice again
Your heart will see me dance . . .
and you will know that I am
just a breath away.


Joanne Cucinell0 © 2006