All Posts By: Byron McCoy

NEW MOON

               It was a new moon night, and without its light, stars appeared in even greater splendor as cast across seaside sky that mirrored on the ebb tide as oceans rose to moon in day on far side of the world.                 The low waters rose in undulations, breaking on the rocky shore, and from […]

THE RAPTURE

               It was not a job Ryan enjoyed, but looking at the pasture-paddock, he saw no other choice.  Across the hillside, there were only weeds: ragweed, briars, and a lower weed that smothered the ground and no animal would eat.                 For years, he’d left alone, as the cattle picked through and ate on the […]

AMONGST THE RUINS

               “…had I not believed that after death the life of the soul remains with the consequences of our acts, a belief which Epicurus rejected; and I asked: If we were immortal and lived in unending bodily pleasure, with no fear of losing it, why should we not be happy?  What else should we be […]

A THOUSAND GESTURES

               “…to make conversation, to share a joke, to perform mutual acts of kindness, to read together well-written books, to share in trifling and serious matters, to disagree though without animosity—just as a person debates with himself—and in the very rarity of disagreement to find the salt of normal harmony, to teach each other something […]

THE BELLTOWER

“…free curiosity has greater power to stimulate learning than rigorous coercion.”—Saint Augustine, Confessions _____                “And what have you learned?” Annie was asked.                    Annie listened, staring out from veranda upon street of colors, culture, and charm—all new, enchanting, to her.  She had wanted to go, to see and learn, and so they went […]

DIVERGENCES

          “There are more I want to write,” he told.           “Then write,” she answered.  Sensing hesitation, unwanted silence after but unreadiness to say, she continued in erasure of the pause.  “Don’t ask, and don’t explain.  Just write.  It’s your art, your adventure, your own experience in creation—make it.  Don’t conform and hide to fit […]

MYSTERIES

               He tried to write but nothing came, and in early morning of day, he walked outside, into world.  The rising sun covered fast and low behind moving sheet of clouds.  Above and to west, sky was layered in gray and lavender wash as if broad-waved brushstrokes from south and into north.  Within the tapestry […]

TRANSFIGURATION

               “Jesus’ transfiguration was an experience of his divinity shining through his humanity.  In that brilliance, Peter, James, and John, saw more clearly the fullness of who Jesus was.  It was beyond anything they had seen or experienced before.  This transfiguration took their breath away.  Though they might not have been ready to receive this […]