Two poems by Rachael Stanley

The Middle Ground

I recall a voice from years ago,
a yoga teacher sharing wisdom with his pupils,
‘Where there’s freedom, there’s balance
and where there’s balance, there’s freedom.’

In the middle, between two opposites
like a weighing scales measuring out
an even measure,
or like a rider on a bicycle

who does not lean to either side,
but balances in the middle,
or like a special envoy on a mission
of peace between two nations at war.

The whole of life strives towards this balance,
‘Where there’s balance, there’s freedom,
and where there’s freedom, there’s balance.’

Words Part 1

                                                           

I looked at the hearse

as they slid the coffin in

and later, I looked

when the coffin was lowered to the ground.

Words first appeared in the newspaper

to announce the death.

Then words were used at the funeral rite.

More words were spoken in the church ground -

Noble words that she'd never heard when she

was still around.

Rachael Stanley is from Dublin, Ireland. Her recent publications include poems in Writing4All, Best of 2010 and Static Poetry II and III.  She has also published haiku in Haiku J, an Irish online journal. Her other work is coming up in Issa's Untidy Hut.