AUTUMN by Joy Sheridan

 

Autumn

by Joy Sheridan

I feel them all – my dreams

Like Autumn leaves leaving September

On a soft-scented drift

A memory of summer.

I feel them all – my dreams

Where love has gone, it does not mean

That an expelling has meant an ending,

Merely a change.

Love can never ever die – should that

Heaven forbid the thought, be

Then there would be no more,

And no more would you hear these words

As I pronounce them.

I feel them all – my flames, my rosebuds,

My daisies, my hyacinths, my tiger lilies,

My gentle weeping snowdrops, my daffodils,

My white lilies – I feel them all.

My flames – lighting the high reaches

On those other planes, 

Where the light of Heaven is the light of day

And in the night, when the stars are at play

I feel them even deeper

Through that blue-black cloak

Of Perfect Love

Like mists these fingertips 

Will trace their forms.

Their names, their lovely smiles

Until we meet again . . .

Until we meet again . . .

(October 8th, 1985)

Photography by Daniel Krakan

Joy Sheridan: Born in Plymouth in 1947, Joy has been writing poetry since the late 1960s. Her first published poem Witch Song appeared in Issue #2 of Aquarius magazine (1970), edited by the late Eddie Linden. Since then, Joy’s work has appeared in many anthologies, such as Creature Features – a magazine for animal lovers, produced in Cyprus. In 1991 Joy won a prize from the London Newspaper Group for her poem Christina Rossetti's Canary. In 2000, The Sun published her work A Millennium Poem. Joy has been a substantial contributor to Rubies in the Darkness for many years, and in July 2013 (Issue #21) was awarded First Prize for the passionate poem Aphroditian Deluge. The frame of reference of her poetry ranges throughout history, often embracing classical antiquity, often honing in on the finer subtleties of the Victorian era. 19th Century Russia has always been a focus of fascination for Joy; such as Through Russian Eyes. Supremely, her eloquent, visionary poetry breaks down barriers between the spiritual and the sensual. Her writing, however, is not confined to poetry. Joy gained distinction for her acumen in literary criticism in a Diploma in Higher Education at the University of Westminster. Some of her academic work has been embellished by exciting experimental collages. In addition to this, she has written a mass of short stories, three romantic novels and an illustrated diary of a voyage she made across the Atlantic Ocean. Visual Art has also been one of Joy's major preoccupations. She graduated from Hammersmith Art College, where she was tutored by Jane Percival. Some of her artwork is exhibited online in the ‘Outside In’ exhibition organized by the Disability Arts Foundation, based in Pallant House, Chichester, and on the site of the bohemi project, organized by Thanet arts activist Roxana Riaz. To explore her work, click here. 

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