Life so seldom Unfolds As we anticipate, Hope, Or even fear
When those luscious Days of Early spring, Arrive The ones Where the sun Caresses your face And a light breeze Passes by Carrying joy
Look at the tip Of those skeletal branches Keep watch, For a bud will emerge A tight green shelter A womb Of sorts
It will grow Reaching out Reaching up Further and further Toward the warmth Of the globe Of molten gold
The green vessel Will change color Maybe adding a tint of yellow As life Rises like yeast Within the shelter
Does the bud feel pain Does it know New life Is within Life which needs To burst into the light In order To live Grow And unfurl in all its splendor Adding beauty To the world
Does its life unfold As it Anticipates, Hopes, Or even fears?
Widen the lens Pull your gaze Off the ugly For even a moment Refocus
The sadness The heartless destruction Of lives And livelihoods Of buildings And homes Remains in The field of vision But take away Its all-consuming Power Over your heart
See also The feathered friends Flying With abandon Resting now Upon naked Branches
See also the fringes of ice Decorating the edges Of the comforters Which lay Upon the River rocks
See also The tree trunks Reflected In the stillness Of downstream water
See also The meadow Beyond the trees At river’s edge Dormant now With carpet Of marshmallow White Protecting its soil
See also The hint of buds Erupting on Winter branches Looking like raisins Representing Hope
Allow your breath To be released Your lungs to expand Your fears to diminish
And See also Creation Steadfast Reminder That Love Will overpower hate.
Sadness Fear Confusion Distrust Guilt Shame Anger Sadness
All seething Within Pressing From all sides Threatening Explosion
The world On fire Innocent lives Destroyed Collateral damage Homes Infrastructure Years of work Up in flames
Where is love? Can we find space In our troubled hearts For love?
Can we step away From the noise Smoke, lies And find the peace We require To clear our vision Grieve our losses
Can we step away And acknowledge The shame We may feel As citizens Of this country and the monumental Frustration Overtaking us as we feel Held hostage By a regimen of evil, greed Corruption and the lust for power and adulation
Can we step away From the noise To find peace And love Deep within Our souls?
Can we embrace quiet And listen For the voice As persistent And gentle As hummingbird wings The voice That will guide us Empower us And grant us The courage To go on living Defiantly A life of love And service To the people?
Love cannot Be extinguished Find the spark The ember Deep within
Feed that light Fan the flame Reside in the hope that Together We will Someday Overcome The darkness.
The news worsens I am confounded My confidence gone Who am I As a member Of this country Previously proud to be so Now embarrassed Saddened Grieved by the egregious Actions And threats Of our preposterous president.
I know not what to do I lie awake. Awake. Hour after hour Sick with worry Hopeless as I am helpless To fix, to mitigate even Disaster after disaster.
From deep in the private Recesses Of my hurting heart Comes a silken shroud I allow myself To be wrapped within The soft and warm I release briefly My stale breath Letting the acid Ascending from my gut Trickle back down my vise grip opens and the scraping of teeth whispers into silence.
It is from within This protected den I hear The gentle voice Of love and Reason
Much to my chagrin And relief I am reminded I am not all-powerful Nor all-knowing But I am enough To answer That which is my call Which is within My reach
I can hold onto truth As I experience it I can share love I can feel joy For in this time of Great suffering In this time of Conflict-violence-evil We can only but do each Our own part Participate in healing That which lay Within our reach
The writers must write The painters must paint The protectors must protect Lovers must love And the faithful And the doubters Must pray And so on.
We all must watch And listen Create a sabbath In our hearts Each day And then When we hear in the silence of our hearts the calling or our names Our jobs will become clear And we must go forth With courage To do each our part No matter how small For together We are massive Together We will survive
The Power of Love Words Two dimensional letters Clustered Arranged Lifeless Cold
And yet When witnessed When you stand In the kitchen And have the honor Of being present For an embrace Of brothers Your heart Changes form Puffs up With warmth Grows outward Pushing its Self-imposed Boundaries Filling your eyes Threatening tears An involuntary Smile Appears
There is a near Palpable energy Electric-like Zipping through The room
In these moments You know There is Power In Love
In these moments You know Life is Precious
In these moments Current world crises Fade away Frigid temps Melt into nothingness For You know There is Power in Love And Life is good.
Breast the color Of weathered bricks Shiny black head Of the male Duller charcoal black Of the female Dirty yellow beak Feathers charcoal grey Beads of black for eyes Accentuated by rings of white
It is the eyes Which captivate Seeming to penetrate Deeply into my soul They remain fixed Not deterred By my return gaze
In Ireland The robin (spideog) Is considered to be Sacred Believed to have Acquired its red chest from The blood of Jesus When removing Pain-inflicting thorns From His crown As He hung on the cross
Many cultures Attribute Legends of heroism and self-sacrifice To the small birds Calling their red breasts A badge of honor
The American robin Is a thrush The European robin An Old-World flycatcher United by the red breast They are both called robins
Scientists say The robin’s eyes Sense the weak force Of the earth’s magnetic field Giving them a compass to navigate by What force do they sense From me What do they wish me to understand?
I wonder What causes me to be Filled with awe And covered with goosebumps As I gaze into the eyes Of these birds Believed by many To be messengers for those In the spirit world.
November robins Eleven of them Living in their winter flock Hop around the yard Pulling up worms From the earth Soon they will be existing On berries and seeds As winter hardens The earth.
November robins Hopping from branch to branch Atop the crab apple tree Feeding on their winter food As mother deer And her fawn Munch the fruit Fallen below
Yes, winter is coming But spring will return And I will once again Work in the garden beds With these same robins Living in pairs Singing that familiar Courting tune They will sit nearby Waiting for me to unearth A scrumptious treasure
But for today I will enjoy The gift Of Robins in November!
Crumbs for the Journey 