A Canticle of Synchronicity

A poem. Lessons from an unexpected oasis in the desert

“Even in winter, don’t lose heart.” Copyright by Jenine Bsharah Baines

During trying times in the desert,
my parking spot was number eleven —
double ones,
long a symbol of enlightenment.
My address was 9211.
Double elevens!
Welcome, illumined ones.
Drive right up. Dwell with me.

My desert dwelling. Copyright by Jenine Bsharah Baines

Daily,
I’d escape to an oasis
where a creek and lagoons meandered
through live oak and cypress.
The Wisdom of the desert
was my great and only companion
guiding me through my bayou
of despair

Copyright by Jenine Bsharah Baines

into a showering fountain’s rainbow —
a promise
one day the muck and dank moss
italicizing and bolding my banishment
would wash clear.