I prized my strength.
Like a great oak
I towered on
the land I broke
as if red clay
were ruddy gold.
None moved me till
Christ broke my hold.
Come in His hand,
I yield and give
like windswept reeds
and yet I live.
© 2019, William Conelly
WILLIAM CONELLY took both his BA and MA degrees under Edgar Bowers at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This was after his military service. Unrelated work in research and composition followed before he returned to academia in 2000. Since then he’s served in both the US and UK as an associate professor, a tutor, and a seminar leader in writing and English Studies. The Able Muse press brought out a collection of his verse in 2015. It’s titled Uncontested Grounds and may be reviewed at their website or via Amazon. Dual citizens of the US and UK, Professor Conelly and his wife reside primarily in England in the market town of Warwick.
The BeZine 