Maja Trochimczyk dedicates this collection of poems, “Bright Skies,” to her children and grand-children, asking them to read and enjoy her verse “when they grow up.” The volume features 85 poems written in 2009-2022 and organized into five sections – Spring, Summer, Babie Lato, Autumn and Winter. The seasons of poetry include reflections on nature, beauty, love, life, and spirituality. The focus is on positive emotions, learning to be calm and content, full of compassion and wisdom. It is a life-long quest, and these poems are an invitation.
The poems are illustrated with 160 photographs taken in the poet’s neighborhood – Big Tujunga Wash, Angeles National Forest, Descanso Gardens, and Oxnard Beach. The surprising “Coda” brings a set of recipes for old-fashioned Polish dishes mentioned in poems. Bringing together favorite memories of her Polish childhood – making and flying kites, plays with soap bubbles – and the delights of sunny Southern California gardens, parks, and beaches, the book includes lessons how to seek and find the daily dose of domestic bliss. This book is a legacy from a well-lived life, and a companion to "Into Light: Poems and Incantations" - another collection of positive, inspirational poetry illustrated with photos.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
"From pears in a California garden to a recipe from her Polish grandmother for pickled pears, Maja Trochimczyk leads her readers into a lovely world. She sees the beauty of a rose, a bird, a sunrise. She has brought her childhood memories from faraway Poland into the splendid light of Southern California. Woven into each poem is a word picture, accompanied by a photograph of local scenes from her neighborhood – Big Tujunga Wash, Descanso Gardens, Oxnard Beach. These wonderful, heart-warming poems are full of exquisite metaphors and images, where spirituality comes through clearly, without labels, devotions, or being overly didactic. My favorites, “Mason Bees” and “On Landscapes: A Guidebook,” bring together vivid descriptions of Nature with inspirational life-lessons that Nature imparts. They are perfect in substance, style and language. Seeking contentment in domestic life – peaceful home and garden – is an important message for everyone today. The book includes even an original version of marriage vows and ends with a surprise: a selection of old-fashioned recipes for traditional Polish dishes mentioned in poems. Readers will grow in knowledge of beauty and joy surrounding them, shared in daily doses of bliss. "
~ Marlene Hitt, poet and historian, author of "Clocks and Water Drops"
"In these uncertain times, when the world wobbles on its axis between pandemics, climate change and war, taxing our ability to cope, Maja Trochimczyk, presents us with her antidote, Bright Skies, Selected Poems. The book is divided into five sections: Spring, Summer, Babie Lato, Autumn and Winter. She created this generous volume (her ninth) as a gift to her children, grandchildren and for those of readers fortunate to read it. Every poem celebrates the incomparable beauty, diversity and healing power of nature--giving us reason for hope.[...] In addition, she compliments her literary art with a visual artist’s eye for light, color, shape in the exquisite detail of her photography. The photographs on glossy paper present in minute detail every subject she turns her attention to. Further, her knowledge of local flora and fauna verges on the encyclopedic presenting us with an abundance of riches, which inform her life and work, writing poetry is like growing artichokes from a seed of invention. Whether one perceives dewdrops on a rose, the wind swirl of a kite in cerulean skies or, an incoming wave bursting from a turquoise sea, one is moved and that’s the point. She presents all five senses and dares you to fully engage—and to be moved."
~ William Scott Galasso, review excerpt from Poetry Letter No. 3, 2022
"Bright Skies poems has the highest intensity expressed in an enjoyable poetic, artistic way. From Bright Skies poetry I am learning to listen to nature with an open mind and heart. The poems of Bright Skies are pointing to a higher awareness level while giving an utmost ecstatic pleasure to the senses. The simultaneous expression of biological love making and spiritual love are in perfect harmony. Maja’s poems are stimulation, Inspiration to listen to the essence of nature. Her poetry creates harmony in the heart. The colorful photos are expressing visually the richness of the poems."
~ Susan Dobay, Hungarian-American artist and philosopher of art
Preface
This collection of poems is inspired by the births of my two granddaughters, Aurelia, born on 12 September 2021 and Juniper, born on 16 September 2021. I planned to write a book of poems for each girl, just as I did for my grandson, Adam, born on 16 September 2016. The poetry book dedicated to him, entitled I Give You the World, contains one long poem describing things that I love and cherish in this life, illustrated with photos of my family, travels, and gardens. An abridged version without family pictures appeared on my blog; this version is further shortened here. The purpose of the book for Adam was to introduce the Polish-born boy to his American & Canadian family and their lives. He now lives in the U.S. and is able to share these delights in-person.
Since Adam got “the whole world” as his birthday present, what can I give to his five-years-younger sister, Aurelia, and his cousin, Juniper? I found 85 poems and over 160 photographs that I decided to share with them, in a book to be read when they grow up. This is not a children’s book. With gratitude, I described delights that I found in my garden and home, during walks, adventures, and travels. I wrote about inspirational moments and discoveries, summarizing my life’s wisdom at 64. This volume of “positive poetry” contains verse originally written in 2009-2022 and is a companion volume to Into Light: Poems and Incantations (2016). It is a necklace of love and blessings; each bead – a poem.
I hope that the readers attracted to the themes of seeking light and enjoying life in the garden will find here something to enjoy, something to think about, and something to do in their own lives. After all, we live in the Garden of Eden and can make this Earth a Paradise, if we only want to. Enjoy!
Maja Trochimczyk
Los Angeles, 1 June 2022
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ≈ v
Preface
≈ viii
Prior
Publication Credits ≈ ix
Spring ~Wiosna ≈ 3
1. A Springtime Revelation ≈ 4
2. Only in California ≈ 5
3. The Day of a Plum Tree ≈ 7
4. Outside my Window ≈ 9
5. Spring Cleaning ≈ 11
6. An Artichoke of a Poem ≈ 13
7. On Being Green in Vincent’s Garden ≈ 15
8. Da Capo al Fine ≈ 17
9. A Ballad of a New Heart ≈ 19
10. An Invitation to the Dance ≈ 21
11. A Ballad of Angels ≈ 23
12. Practical Advice for a Frazzled Passer-by ≈ 25
13. Skylark’s Lesson ≈ 27
14. Oh, The Art of Looking ≈ 29
15. On Being a Bird ≈ 31
16. the doves of love ≈ 32
17. A Mystery Solved ≈ 33
18. Double Delight ≈ 35
19. Diamond Days in Crystal Gardens ≈ 36
20. This Afternoon ≈ 39
21. From Minium Chronicles ≈ 40
22. The Golden Hour ≈ 42
Summer ~Lato ≈ 43
1. June in Gold and Blue ≈ 44
2. The Song of the Summer ≈ 46
3. A Tale of a Hare ≈ 48
4. A Drink of Water ≈ 50
5. Mason Bees ≈ 51
6. The Golden Time of Honey ≈ 53
7. Dreaming Bees ≈ 55
8. A Pear in a Tree ≈ 56
9. A Day Trip to Venice, California ≈ 57
10. Carving Sand ≈ 59
11. A Champagne Sunday ≈ 61
12. Aquamarine ≈ 63
13. The Ocean of Jade ≈ 65
14. The 23rd of July ≈ 67
15. Tatarak ≈ 69
16. Flying Kites ≈ 71
17. “Let me go!” ≈ 73
18. Soap Bubbles ≈ 74
19. High Noon ≈ 75
20. Matka Boska Zielna ≈ 76
21. In Morning Light ≈ 78
Babie Lato ≈ 81
1. On Thursday Afternoon ≈ 82
2. Sapphire ≈ 84
3. Amber ≈ 85
4. A Revelation after Il Paradiso ≈ 86
5. Up, Up, Up ≈ 88
6. From Yesterday’s Dream ≈ 89
7. Sunfire Foxes ≈ 91
8. Sweet Nothings ≈ 92
9. The Year of Crystal Fire ≈ 94
10. Just to Make It Clear ≈ 96
11. A Chromosome Ballad ≈ 97
12. Twin Flame Promise ≈ 98
13. Diamonds ≈ 100
Autumn ~ Jesien ≈
101
1. On Cosmic Breath ≈ 102
2. Landscapes: A Guidebook ≈ 103
3. A Cosmic Rainbow ≈ 106
4. Today – For Us ≈ 110
5. I Give You the World ≈ 112
6. A Golden Poem for a Girl of Gold ≈ 122
7. Gold Wishes ≈ 124
8. Juniper ≈ 127
9. The Fierce Explorer ≈ 128
10. The Aril ≈ 130
11. Fall Yucca ≈ 132
12. This Evening ≈ 135
13. Diamond Rain ≈ 136
Winter ~ Zima ≈ 139
1. California Winter ≈ 140
2. Standing in a Pool of Silver ≈ 141
3. The Antidote ≈ 142
4. A Music Box Christmas ≈ 144
5. Rules for Happy, Holy Days ≈ 146
6. A Ballad from the Field of Glory ≈ 147
7. A Jewel Box Sunrise ≈ 150
8. Winter Solstice ≈ 152
9. The Star of Christmas, the Way of Light ≈ 154
10. Gifts ≈ 156
11. New Year’s Day in the Wash ≈ 158
12. Your Rainbow ≈ 160
13. Imagine, a Poem of Light ≈ 161
14. A Declaration ≈ 162
15. Arbor Cosmica ≈ 164
16. Hymn of Light ≈ 166
Coda –
Recipes for Poems ≈ 168
Spring – Mazurkas ≈ 168
Summer – Pickled Pears and Plums ≈ 169
Babie Lato – Szarlotka ≈ 170
Autumn – Bigos and Salads ≈ 171
Winter – Barszcz, Kompot and Kutia
≈ 172
About the Author ≈ 173
SPRING - WIOSNA
Outside my Window
A round spot
of gold light
appears on
the slope of my California hills
green in the
spring, shadowed by rainclouds.
Suddenly, an
epiphany of light, a hole in the sky
appears
among thickening shadows, dusk
approaching
soon, much too soon.
The bright
circle stretches into
an arrow,
points west, along the ridge
and the
gully. The arrow of light, my arrow
tells me to
go, do, act, lead and follow.
Be the
light, bring the light. Enlighten.
Before I can
even reach for pen and paper
to write
down this command, this call to action,
it is
gone. All is shadow now. Murky darkness.
Yet the
memory of cloud epiphany lingers,
etched onto
my retina. This spot of light,
this arrow
will always be with me —
every day,
each morning I will turn the circle
of
contemplation into the arrow of action,
the dawn
star into a comet, inexorably
reaching its
end.
Is it not
the story of my life?
This spot of
light on a mountain meadow
after one
winter storm, before another?
I catch it,
hold it, and keep it safe
among my
treasures. Things not to be
discarded. Unforgettable thoughts.
Another
pearl for my precious necklace
woven from
brilliant moments —
jewels of a
well-lived life.
SUMMER - LATO
Matka Boska Zielna
~ for Mother
of God of the Herbs (August 15)
Look
at the greening hill slopes charred by last year’s wildfire—
that’s
magic. Look at the mountain sunflower that grew
at
the edge of the asphalt on Oro Vista road, it already blooms
out
of nowhere—that’s magic, too. The postcard-size
garden
by
the old, wooden house, a shack, really—fills with
flowers
every
spring. Fruit appears on orange trees after bees collect pollen.
The
scent of sweetness, the cheerful noise of bee wings—
is
it not far more miraculous, a thousand, a million times
more
delightful than the 100 floors of steel-metal-glass
of
skyscrapers proudly pointing at the sky? Incomparable
with
a patch of weeds, nature’s miracles of renewal.
How
proud we are of our empty metallic constructions
that
will rust in the jungle, abandoned, like stone pyramids
of
the Mayas, shrouded by vibrant green of leaves and
branches.
Thousands of years of human fame obliterated
by
the steady, living, fertile abundance, the overflowing
force
of life, of matter, our Mother.
Roots,
shoots and tendrils spread out, germinate,
flow
through the soil in search of water, nutrients,
life,
more life, ever growing, ever richer, dancing,
singing
the abundance of being—the song of
creation
we
are—
we are
—we
are—we are all —
we
are one—one—one—
BABIE LATO
Diamonds
There is Universe within my heart
A myriad galaxies dance in my mind
I’m a microcosm of Divine design
In a seashell there is an ocean
In dark coal mine white diamonds
grow
In your eyes I find ageless wisdom
The One Love that sustains us all
In your guilt I see my darkness
In your beauty—radiance and light
In your voice—the calling, the calling
Mountain air on a spring morning
Sparkling diamonds, radiant and pure—
For all forevers you enfold me in
Love
The Aril
“Aril” is the word for me.
Not “arid”—as in the desert of wasted
years, hours.
Not “arduous” —as in working so hard
every day
to make ends meet. These ends, they
never meet, anyway.
Just aril. As in my garden at noon. As
in ruby-bright
pomegranate shining in full sunlight.
A jewel bowl
of arils I pick from exploded fruit to
freeze for winter.
A handful of overripe arils that taste
rejuvenating,
like fine wine. Tartly-sweet juice
stains my fingers
burgundy-red—or should I say, aril-red?
Oh, the delight of untold riches!
You watch me blissfully chew the seeds
and say in disbelief: “You eat them
whole? Really?
When I was a boy, my brother told me
that
trees would grow out of my ears if I
swallowed
pomegranate seed—huge trees would grow
and grow and grow and grow…”
We laugh at the vision of these arid,
forgotten years.
It was an arduous journey that took us
through
the wilderness to this vivid moment of
sharing
this magic, life-giving nectar of
arils,
ruby-red arils.
Arbor Cosmica
~ for my
children
No
fear, no hate, not even a mild dislike*—
we
leave our heavy burdens, shards of memories
broken,
all too broken, at the bottom of crystal stairs
beneath
clouds of white camellias, petals swirling
through
air like the snow of forgetfulness
Perfect
symmetry of blossoms
points
the way—up, up, always up
rainbow
crystal stairs, revealed
one
by one as we ascend—inwards,
outwards—dancing
spirals of our DNA
We
get to know this place—these depths,
these
heights—for once, for all lifetimes
With
each step, pure notes resonate
and
expand into clear, spacious chords—
the
music of the spheres rings out, wave by wave
expanding
from our open hearts
Each
chord—harmonious, different—
each
melody in this vast symphony
sweetly
twines around another, and another
until
all are One Song, One Wisdom—
of
stem and flower, of leaf and root
in
this Cosmic Tree of humanity
Arbor
Cosmica—
We
have been here
all
along without knowing
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maja Trochimczyk, PhD, is a Polish American poet, music historian, photographer, and non-profit director. She is the author/editor of eight books on music and Polish culture in Polish and English, as well as five poetry volumes and four anthologies, most recently We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology (co-edited with Marlene Hitt, 2020). A former Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, she is the founder of Moonrise Press, President of the California State Poetry Society, Managing Editor of the California Quarterly and Poetry Letter published by the CSPS, and President of the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club, promoting Polish culture in California. Hundreds of her poems, articles and book chapters appeared in English, Polish, and in a variety of translations. She presented her research at over 90 international conferences and received many awards from Polish, Canadian and American institutions. Among other honors, she is the winner of the Creative Arts Prize from the Polish American Historical Association (2016) for her two books about Polish civilian experience during WW II and its aftermath, Slicing the Bread and The Rainy Bread. Since 2010, she has maintained a series of blogs on poetry, Polish history and culture, with a total readership of over 970,000 visitors: moonrisepress.com; californiastatepoetrysociety.com; poetrylaurels.blogspot.com; chopinwithcherries.blogspot.com, etc.
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