Moments of Pause, by Jessica Gigot

Shepherdess With Her Flock, by Jean Francois Millet (France). 1863?

Moments of Pause
 
Red-hooded, she stands
Solitary, patient
Aware of her own
Unawareness. The sheep
Graze behind her,
Backs facing back
Accenting time’s irrelevance.
 
I crave moments like these
When peace and harmony
Seem inevitable. Instead,
It is usually rush and stretch
Go and scatter.
 
Some days I stop too,
Cloaked in my synthetic fibers.
But instead of calmly peering
At knitting needles, creating,
I am staring at my smart phone
Desperate for answers to questions
About lamb eye health,
Droopy ewes, dewormers
Safe for lactation.
 
I strive for her contentedness
Though I know it is fleeting,
Those moments of pause when all
You need are sun breaks, fresh
Grass and the passive, soothing
Sighs of your own breath. 

Jessica Gigot
​
Jessica Gigot, Ph.D, M.F.A, is a poet, farmer, teacher and musician.  She has a small farm in Bow, WA, called Harmony Fields that grows herbs, lamb and specialty produce. She also offers educational & art workshops through her Art in the Barn series. Jessica has lived in the Skagit Valley for over ten years and is deeply connected to the artistic and agricultural communities that coexist in the region. Her writing has been published in the Floating Bridge Press Review, Poetry Northwest, About Place Jounrnal and All We Can Hold: Poems of Motherhood. Her first book of poems, Flood Patterns, was published by Antrim House Books in 2015.