Synkroniciti is excited to welcome back poet and writer Annette Boushey Holland with two poems featuring non-conformist ideas about mortality. The first, “Flying Pancakes,” is a reminder to those aging and aged to stay engaged and active as long as possible. “When my parents were only seventy/ something, they sold their house/ and moved to a retirement home/ with tiny apartments, nothing dangerous./ No kitchen, candles, or bathtubs.” It isn’t only the physical challenges that are eliminated. The connection to the outside world is dwindling. It’s good to feel safe and comfortable, but the everyday challenges we experience and the annoyances we find in current events keep us sharp and alive. One is put in mind of Dylan Thomas, but Annette’s take is full of whimsy rather than rage, perhaps more effective in managing the changes that occur as we age. The second poem, “Singing with my Brother,” looks backward to a brother who committed suicide when she was twelve. He was a nature lover, a sensitive soul that was overwhelmed in the tumult of humanity, and Annette feels his presence near a creek in the woods as she is hiking. “I may just be imagining his presence/ enveloped in radiance of the Goddess/ as we sit together on cold rock/ watching glistening water flow.” She finds herself singing. There are these moments of connection to those who are no longer here which seem intensely real and meaningful. Annette shares hers with us and it makes us want to look for those moments in our lives.
Read Annette’s inspiring poetry in Synkroniciti’s “Belonging” issue, available here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
After growing up in a military family that moved around the country with unsettling frequency, Annette Boushey Holland has taken root in a small valley in Northern California, tucked between the ocean and what remains of the redwood forest. She lives with her husband, rescued horses and a dog—and delights in visits from children and grandchildren. She enjoys slow travel as well as writing, painting, reading, dancing, hiking, kayaking, puttering in the garden, and hosting meditation retreats in their remodeled barn. She has done fundraising and public relations for several conservation groups, taught English composition, and helped establish two land trusts. Her publications include articles on environmental issues, short memoirs, and poems.