Cathy Hollister is the author of Seasoned Women, A Collection of Poems published by Poet’s Choice.  When not writing you might find her on the dance floor enjoying the company of friends or deep in the woods basking in the peace of solitude. A 2024 Best of the Net nominee, her work has been in Eclectica Magazine, Burningword Literary Journal, Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine, The Ekphrastic Review, and others. She lives in middle Tennessee; find her online at www.cathyhollister.com

Welcome

Abbeyglen Castle, Clifden, Ireland

Alone
in my luxurious room with its four-poster bed
brocade curtains
and small sign with a simple request
Dear Guest
Please turn off the lights
when you vacate the room
But how can I turn off the lights in my mind
vacate my thoughts
forsake the sin
unconfessed and festering
I didn’t protect her from those hurtful words,
I’ve harbored resentment, envied other success,
evaded responsibility, got drunk,
complained, criticized, judged, and despaired
Sweet lobby greets me
with window seat, deep sofa, fireplace
and a further request,
Dear Guest
Warm you shivering soul inside
leave your orphaned fears on the bog
your guilt forgiven
enter the pub 
dressed in soft plaids and Guiness ads
sit in silence by the turf fire
as sadness flows to the sea
Sunrise burns the dew and beckons the day
With a request
Dear Guest
Wake, royal and free
marvel at the magic of fairies 
and the crumbly comfort of fresh scones
while your morning with a strong
cup of tea
Come, dear guest
eat, sleep, shed your heavy armor
steep your worries in Irish resilience
as your dark days green
in the hills of Connemara

Caged Tiger

anger must never stay in silence
to grow and swell and prey in silence
to have no voice or breath or song
if stilled and cast in clay in silence
when buried inside expectation
to obey and decay in silence
but stir the rugged edges of spite
when clever girls can play in silence
to write and dream of higher proclaim
because of time away in silence
and wisdom many believed was lost
will flourish holding sway in silence
as purifying lightning strikes
to startle and betray in silence
all those in power who shout of fame
and tarnish gold displayed in silence
will topple from their self-made heights
though still seek to make way in silence
so strong the need in silent nights
for those who fear and stray in silence
hear far-off thunder rumbling low
to join those who array in silence
explode in vicious common voice
to avenge the days stayed in silence

The Folly of Cairns

“Eventually, we realize that if we destroy the ecosystem, we destroy ourselves.”
Jonas Salk
In pristine waterways defiled 
Pry the stones from their bed
To form false empires in the wild
Unconcerned as stones are piled
Along the shore, among the dead
In Pristine waterways defiled
Brook the boulder, spires styled
Foreign invaders look ahead
To form false empires in the wild
Survivors cleverly beguiled
Among stacked stones falsely wed
In pristine waterways defiled
Needs of creatures are reviled
As petty human desires are lead
To form false empires in the wild
When careless desires rule a child-
Like mind, obtuse art is bred
In Pristine waterways defiled
To form false empires in the wild