Vistas & Byways Review - Fall 2020
  • Contents
    • In This Issue
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Bay Area Neighborhoods
    • Inside OLLI
  • About Us
  • Contributors
  • Submissions
  • Archive
    • Spring 2020
    • FALL 2019
    • SPRING 2019
    • Fall 2018
    • SPRING 2018
    • FALL 2017
    • FALL 2016
    • SPRING 2016
    • FALL 2015

POETRY     

Crystal Stars in Obsidian Sky   -   Weebly.com                                           

Wedding Day
by MJ Moore

On our wedding day, the minister, a friend,
spoke about Arctic expeditions,
Franklin’s failure.
How ice trapped his ship,
and the men dragged silverware on sleds for miles
before collapsing from the weight.
How they ignored the Inuit hunters,
who could have counseled them
on how to stay alive.
 
Strange words for a festive day—yet prescient.
Who needs advice for balmy days?
Like all who attempt this journey,
we have trod polar ice through blinding storms,
compass shattered by howling winds.
We have lost each other in white-outs,
drifted for days in darkness.
 
We jettisoned the silver,
trained ourselves to live lean, cut losses,
cinch the belt tighter.
We learned when to listen
to wind’s merest whisper,
when to drive the team or let it rest,
how to cut out festering flesh,
wrap the wound firmly,
trudge on.
 
Along the journey, a world worth living--
crystal stars in obsidian sky.
Curtains of color arc overhead,
and cold clear air sparks the soul.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR  
MJ Moore lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her various incarnations have included technical writer and editor, grassroots environmental activist, first grade teacher, poet and flash fiction writer, wife, and mother. Strongly bicoastal, she thrives on salt air, wind and waves, but also loves mountains, deserts, forests and streams. Writing for her is a source of vision and joy. 

Other works in this Issue: 
Poetry
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IN THIS ISSUE

BAY AREA NEIGHBORHOODS

FICTION

INSIDE OLLI

NONFICTION

POETRY

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Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University​.​
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to theVistas & Byways  volunteer staff.

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  • Contents
    • In This Issue
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Bay Area Neighborhoods
    • Inside OLLI
  • About Us
  • Contributors
  • Submissions
  • Archive
    • Spring 2020
    • FALL 2019
    • SPRING 2019
    • Fall 2018
    • SPRING 2018
    • FALL 2017
    • FALL 2016
    • SPRING 2016
    • FALL 2015