Questions for the Creator
October 24, 2021
Did you have fun painting every single one
of the birds after you fashioned them --
a ruby sash around this one’s neck,
a yellow apron across that one’s belly,
bronze dots sprinkled upon another’s dapper wings?
Did you think twice before making geese a little bit mean --
or did you simply like the smooth sound of a throaty hiss
and take delight in making a human child run in fright
to his mama’s arms for some quick comforting?
Did you enjoy curling the tail of your first squirrel
and making him hanker for nuts and seeds
while giving him good strong claws to scamper up trees
to taunt the crows and mingle with bees?
In Season's Classroom
October 10, 2021
I see you bend and sway
Lift and bow
Dance and flutter
Always open to WIND’S call.
I watch you lose—one by one--
I watch you lose – one by one –
Your lovely colors
To an earthen grave
Always open to AUTUMN’S call.
I see you stand stark naked
vulnerable against
a frozen WINTER’S blast
You seem to know
That only after the long letting go
Comes the greening and LIFE
At last!
Breaking Point
September 26, 2021
Frenzied to a churning
gray-green boil
you always find some
massive rock to beat against
or some stretched shore
lying ready
-like a mammoth sponge-
To soak up your spill.
I draw my collar closer round
my rage, button in
my pain, and walk the long
gray streets
quietly-on crepe soles-
always careful to nod
and smile
and ask,
“How are you doing?”
To My Angel
September 12, 2021
Set me
On the path
From which I’ll run
To meet my God.
Guide me
Lest in fear
I lose my way
Whisper
“He’s been waiting
With open loving arms.
Now is not the time
To run away."
Autumn Pondering
August 22, 2021
Mid August cuddled in late summer warmth-
Blue birds, flitting from trunk to tree trunk-
Gold finch, scalping the air waves-
Hummingbirds, zooming in zig-zag pattern-
Lonely Monarch, searching for the last nectar,
knowing no goal for tomorrow-
Nuthatch, house cleaning at base of oak-
Crickets, play their violins in the background-
Smell of acorn and fallen hickory nuts.
No bird song as in Spring.
Only hushed communication of its kind.
Nature, are you also mourning
The close of a season?
Are you saying “Good bye” until another year?
Birds, butterflies, insects bid your paradise adieu.
I look for you come Spring.
God speed!
Good Question!
August 08, 2021
What have I gained
From what I have lost?
What have I seen
From what I’ve ignored?
What have I learned
From what I have forgotten?
What have I made
From what I have left?
What?
Experience!
Fire and Water
July 25, 2021
What paradox as water flows,⠀
What paradox as fire ignites.⠀
Water cleanses,⠀
Fire purifies.⠀
Water and fire walk hand in hand⠀
at the baptismal font.⠀
Vicarious desires open new family doors,⠀
Family of Divine⠀
Family of the human.⠀
⠀
The flame is sheltered, fed and stirred in tender years.⠀
Sacraments cleanse, wash and renew.⠀
Faith grows as mystery shrouds.⠀
The Divine energizes growth⠀
as we hope and trust.⠀
⠀
No longer a child,⠀
Yet mystery remains,⠀
water cleanses,⠀
fire purifies.⠀
I daily walk to the fond of the Life giving Spirit⠀
Cleanse water, cleanse.⠀
Burn Spirit, burn.⠀
Burn fire, burn –⠀
As an odor of sweet incense to the Divine.
How a Poem is Born
July 11, 2021
Sunset---⠀
Like any other? NO!⠀
Tonight the “ordinary” sky⠀
Spilled pink and gold and purple!⠀
Stretched them out⠀
From east to west⠀
And then⠀
Before I went to rest⠀
A bright FULL MOON CAME TO WATCH⠀
See? ⠀
Tonight⠀
Was different!
No One Notices
June 27, 2021
No one notices the fear that is dogging my steps.⠀
They are unaware the spit in my mouth ⠀
is drying up and ⠀
my heart is racing.⠀
I want to fly apart and scream⠀
“I’m terrified” but can’t’, won’t.⠀
⠀
I set my face like flint--that’s what terror does⠀
I’m dying yet my death is days away.⠀
Jonquils
June 13, 2021
Bouquet of 16 lovely spring flowers-⠀
the Jonquil.⠀
⠀
White – Baptismal white-pure and innocent. Awesome.⠀
⠀
Pink Centered – symbol of First Communion, full curiosity, reaching out to new experiences, new graces, new life.⠀
⠀
Confirmation – Jonquil with central meteor splash of yellow and orange – a Pentecost display with great possibilities for the future.⠀
⠀
There is the Crown Jewel Yellow Mother Jonquil the prime growth of spring. She will always be there. Even after all the other jonquils are faded and returned to the source, the mother jonquil, “I will be there.”
