Almanack Contributor 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 Adirondacks. Her second book, Kaleidoscope, is an eclectic collection of original poetry as inspired by the ever-changing colors and directions of life.


Saturday, September 9, 2023

Forever Wild

limekiln lake
Forever Wild
Striking blues and greens and pristine whites,
A moving portrait, stirring all the senses.
Boats briefly add base tones,
While kayaks kiss gentle lake waves silently.
Rhythmic, lapping water, like lullabies, emanate,
Lake sings sonatas. Loons yodel arias.
Whispering trees play muffled snares in accompaniment.
Glacial mountains are the backdrop
Of a moving, breathing, vital landscape,
Where life transforms magically, into living art.
Rustic cabins, family ‘Camps’, and boathouses,
Old and new, planks and logs, red, brown, pine-colored,
Frame the shore like a picturesque needlepoint.
The Adirondack high peaks trap pillowy clouds and welcome hikers
To a sacred place where black bear and deer roam freely.
All the families, the generations, the traditions here,
Weave the wonderment of it, the ‘forever-ness’ of it,
“God’s Country” fulfills its ancient destiny year after year,
It is the Brigadoon of our hearts and dreams,
And by it, we are supremely blessed.
Annette Pisano-Higley’s second book, Kaleidoscope, is now available. It is an eclectic collection of original poetry as inspired by the ever-changing colors and directions of life. Her first book can be bought here.

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Chindi

Water and fire stalk the Earth. Four corners are burning, drowning.
The putrid breath of a chindi taints the air, withering the stalks of golden corn,
Separating them from their mother soil until the land beneath lies barren,
Seeded only with the cries of the suffering. » Continue Reading.


Monday, August 14, 2023

Limekiln Lake

Limekiln Lake

Unlock the rough-hewn path
to my heart,
Unlock the winding way
to my soul,
Welcome me.
Pine and wind whisper me clean,
whisper me peaceful.
Blurs of hovering hummingbirds
vibrate with joy, with freedom.
Lake sings sibilant sonnets of song,
life flowing from it in silver laps and ripples.
Northern Sun tosses children’s tresses,
lighting their faces,
while an appreciative shutter clicks,
On a radiant portrait of forever.


Sunday, June 11, 2023

Poetry: Lone Bird

poetry logo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lone Bird

Steaming sun rays vaporize dawn’s soft dew,
Piercing through trees like shafts of fire, molten gold.
Perfume of wet soil and new growth wafts, permeating all.
Blades of grass wave, beckon, entice.

Saturday, May 13, 2023

Poetry: Can We But Live

Exterior image of camp/house
Can We But Live
Like tender pink spring blossoms bedecking tree limbs,
And arrow-peaks of infant conifers emerging from cold earth,
Rebirth and change, in their pristine delicacy, their exquisite bond,
Clean dried scales from tired eyes too long clouded,
While staunching tears too freshly spilled,
All, in an undisclosed and ever-changing plan.

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.



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