Almanack Contributor Annette Pisano-Higley

Annette Pisano-Higley

Annette Pisano-Higley is a Registered Nurse living in both Albany and Florida. She is a published song-lyricist and published a book of her original Adirondack poetry, with photography by her husband Walter Higley, Adirondack Echoes, available on Amazon.com. Annette’s book was inspired by their idyllic summers at the beloved family Camp on Limekiln Lake, Inlet, in the beautiful New York State Adirondack Park.


Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Poetry: Enough

Hibernating bear

Enough

Even here,

Pulling comforters close,

We are like sheltering bears,

Warming against each other,

In the comfort of each other,

Against the threat of elements

So beyond our control.

‘Together’ was ever the safe word.

Safe in a spreading wealth,

Of caves, trees, concrete, steel,

Of hands touching.

Buzzing hives of us,

Together is all we have.

Donning socks and scarves,

Against whatever may come,

We hope, we hope, we pray,

That together,

We’ll be strong enough.

 

Photo at top: Hibernating bears. Photo provided by Annette Pisano-Higley.


Monday, January 16, 2023

Poem: What I Learned From Butterflies

butterfly
What I Learned From Butterflies
Along my way, the butterflies whispered to me

About the nature of their lives. They said,
Everything changes in its own time,
As predestined, pre-ordained,
This is God’s supreme mystery.

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Poetry: For The New Year

For The New Year

To those who gather family near,
Or are alone from year to year,
To those who give and who receive,
To those who may or not believe,
I send these words across the miles,
And right next door, where waits a child,
In hopes of better days ahead,
For peace, with no more tears to shed,
For love of earth and love of man,
For reaching out to all we can,
To stop wars here and in far lands,
To mute the guns and soothe the cries
Of innocents, make safe their lives.
Hope can rise when fear is gone,
Life is strong, free to go on.
When greed abounds, no good can grow,
Nor mercy thrive, nor justice flow.
New Year bells must righteous ring,
O’er everyone and everything,
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
And Happy New Year, is my wish for you


Saturday, December 24, 2022

Poetry: Noel

                      A story worth telling…
                                                        In The

                                                      Middle Of

                                                 A Blackest Night,

                                             One Soul Did Light Up

                                          The Sky Within Plain Sight,

                                     Of Humble Shepherds Upon A Hill,

                                To Whom The Angelic Sounds Did Thrill,

                            They Lifted Their Heads, Midst Dozing Sheep,

                           To A Heraldic Chorus That Moved Them So Deep.

                       Then Gathering Staff And Flock, They Journeyed Afar

                     To Bethlehem, To The Holy Babe Sleeping Under The Star.

                   Falling Down Upon Their Knees, They Praised Him Full Well,

                                                       Infant King,

                                                       Savior Born,

                                                  That Blessed Noel.


Thursday, November 24, 2022

Poetry: Thanks

Thanks
Let us choose to be lifted on the wings of gratitude,
Lifted up, through the sadness, grief,
Through the miasma of all that happened,
And still happens,
Because every day, is a day gifted.
Every offered smile, heart, hand, is a blessing.
As we gather together, or sit alone,
We pause for a moment to breathe,
Immersing ourselves in a moment, that doesn’t hurt,
To see the green, the gold, the true radiance of it.
To partake in the bounty, or the ‘just enough’ of it.
Only then can we feel the true connections, between us.
Only then can we discover, that we can still fly.
That we can still fly.
The breeze from the bird’s wings whispers to us gently,
That for this, and for it all,
We should give praise,
We should give thanks.

Saturday, November 19, 2022

Poetry: Storm-Wolf

poetry logoLoping, lunging lupine paws,

Shake the ground outside my door.

I hear the growl of foul wind, rumbling,

Howling in apocalyptic tones.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, October 15, 2022

Poetry: All Hallows’ Tale

All Hallows’ Tale

(“Quoth the Raven”…Boo!)

Hark, lights sift through shifting windows,

Peeking, speaking

To moss-grown, sleeping sepulchers, creaking,

Whose tombs then quake, raising spirits that caper,

As candlelight proceeds to taper,

Phantasms fly from moldy beds,

Faces frozen in rictus dread…

They know…

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, October 1, 2022

Poem: Autumn Dance

Autumn Dance

Chilled breezes, like icy satin, awaken me from the vagaries,

That muddle one’s thoughts as sleep approaches.

Pungent aroma of smoky air drifting across sills, startles.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Poem: Eye of the Loon

Eye of the Loon

From the Miocene, thirty seven million years of primal memory

Tell me, that I am survival.
Convergent  from strong gulls, hesperornithes, grebes,…

Black, white and gray, I am. Red-eyed Gavia, I am.

Densely-boned Great Northern diver, I am.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Poem: Musing

Musing

Meandering in my mind, musing…

Sibilance of waves wash gently, peacefully,

Realizing I need no more than this,

I count the wonders and blessings before me…

» Continue Reading.


Friday, September 2, 2022

Poem: Wake To It

 

Wake To It

Quicksilver lives, like glistening waves,

Unrelentingly forming, cresting, diminishing, receding,

Like notes on an ever-moving scale,

On ever-turning pages, speeding faster than light,

Billowing above the beckoning forest canopy,

To the lacrimal sounds of searching loons.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, August 20, 2022

Poem: My Walden

my walden

My Walden

To find a pure place, an oasis in life,

Limited neither by earthly boundaries nor spiritual ones,

Nor time, worry, want or discord…is to find paradise.

Such a place of all-encompassing beauty,

Will light every mortal sense afire in birth of inspiration,

Of new sight, of loftier goals, and in ultimate understanding

Of mysteries that were heretofore inscrutable.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, August 15, 2022

Poem: All Points

limekiln lake

All Points

All points coalesce in this place.

Eyes that have seen much,

Reflect pure sunlight on dazzling water.

» Continue Reading.


Sunday, July 31, 2022

Poem: Inlet

poetry logo
Adirondacks nestle the tiny town of Inlet.
All around it is a history
Of logging, hunting, boating, pioneering,
Settling, surviving and staying.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, July 9, 2022

Poem: Upon The North Wind

limekiln
Fresh breezes cross the light-dappled lake,
Clearing cobwebs and cicatrixes in its wake.
The old red Camp clock spins backward.
Zephyrs of air sweep old ghosts
Above the lapping waves to sweet release.
Soon, curlicues of cumulus clouds drift in,
Rolling across water like boats and angels.
A distant loon’s trailing trill heralds new rain.
All around, mountains reassure us, saying,
“Nothing changes in this place,
Except the generations.
Here, pines purify man’s pestilence,
Tall trees renew, protect, promise.
Here, you are linked to your origins, welcomed,
And made whole once more”
Nurturing forest spirits, forever wild,
Bear kind witness to the fragile dreams of men,
And here,upon the wings of the North Wind itself,
Hopes fly free.


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