Foreword

A Taste Of Paradise is a poetry manuscript modified from a poetry chapbook I wrote under the guidance of Dr. Ricardo Sanchez.

- Stephen W. Cote, July, 1995


A Taste Of Paradise

The Collections

Holding Grace

Part I

The decadent mind can fathom
An imaginary sun painting a summer's day
Where each soft, dew-stricken petal's a gem
In a so basically simple and natural way

A smothering anguish passes overhead
In a rolling vapor of white and gray
Yet the silvery water's that strengthen the need
Cleanse the arms holding grace today

Part II

The steeds of the lonely
Cleave the ground under hoof
And the dew-stricken petal is homely
In the darkness beneath the star's movement

My light in the sky is blinding
Wrapped in a blanket of gray mist
And tucked inside a candied-apple dream
It is my embrace of grace that I dearly miss


Part III
Where are you?  The rose thorn I've broken
     - lost in a courtyard field
     - in the sand of a castle moat short

Where are you? The binding device for a heart wounded
     - sailing away on a sea
     - a peaceful mind guided in a shining light

Winds once biting now smiling down
Through a blizzard of snow, and a darkness not shown
Though I felt your need for me for what is true
I knew there was nothing left to hold you

Will I witness a setting sun?  An innocent light slips away
     - through the murky shadows
     - of storm laden clouds on high

Will I wish it true?  My prayers actually listened to - slipping away
     - left alone in darkness
     - nothing to embrace, nothing to miss

In a meadow after my life, sided by mountains
That bear down and hold me to a frown
Under a single sky, remembering the angel of death's face
I cannot wish for paradise, but to once more hold grace


Copyright 1995, Stephen W. Cote and The Writer's Gallery.
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Last Updated: 8/11/95