Stepping Over Epiphanies
By Michael Peter Garofalo
Affecting all the molecules in me
the pull of the moon and sea
feeling the call to walk the shore
Smiled, opened the door
Tides and time sent signals to me
to step nimbly over epiphanies
seen flipped over in the turning sands
Surprised, opened my hands
Waiting for nobody but me
a fleck of cold fire
flung out on this fleck of space
Sang out, loved this place
Shore pines paint a background scene
short stubby crooked trees
swaying gently in the salty breeze
Unruffled, I found tranquility
Stunned by the crisp clean colors
savoring the scents of the sea
enchanted by the incessant singing surf
Awakened, a mystical reverie
Pointing to the ineffable realization of
insights known to me alone
erupted up from our sensory realities
Profound, not foreknown
Such awakenings come and go
sometimes fast or sometimes slow
unpredictable visions playing peekaboo
Pausing, not thinking too
Slogging up and down the dunes
breathing hard on que
one step up, a half-step back
Stopping, quite a view
A romantic couple passes me
by on the thin path through sea grass;
we nod, mumble "hello", step aside,
Strolling, feeling free
Tip toeing over bull kelp strands
stepping on broken shells
avoiding the driftwood piles ever moving
Listening, a virtual foghorn knells
A friendly dog off-leash comes to me
seeking a gentle pat and pet
desiring a kind human face to see
Laughing, she was wet
My grand daughter and I once walked
beside an Oregon dune
not very long ago it seemed to us
Remembered, gone too soon
Stepping Over Epipanies, March 2022
From: At the Edges of the West: Highway 101
All by Michael Peter Garofalo
Michael Peter Garofalo (1946-) grew up in East Los Angeles, was educated in Catholic Schools, lived with two other brothers, graduated (B.A., M.S.) from local universities, married Blanche Karen Eubanks, served in the US Air Force, worked in and managed many City and Los Angeles County Public Libraries, raised two children, socialized, traveled, and learned. Retired as the Regional Administrator, East Region, Los Angeles County Public Library in 1998. We moved to a rural 5 acre property in Red Bluff, in the North Sacramento Valley, CA. Webmaster since 1999. Worked part-time for the Corning School District (Technology and Media Services Manager); and as a yoga, Taijiquan, and fitness club instructor until 2016. Traveled extensively in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. We both retired, and we moved to Vancouver, WA, in 2017. Currently in 2025: reading, writing, gardening, harmonica playing, string figures playing, home chores, yurt camping, exercise, traveling in the Northwest, web publishing, family events, poetry research, photography, Northwest research, Nature mysticism, walking, sports events, and other projects.
Exhibits at the Cyber Gazebo: Text Art and Concrete Poetry
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This document was last edited, revised,
reformatted, added to, relinked,
changed, improved?, or modified
by Mike Garofalo
on January 6, 2025.