As the seasons change

Though, due to the earth’s rotation,

 I can no longer watch the setting sun 

As she brushes the clouds with color, 

I still get to see the clouds and their colors 

Toss their reflections into the sea…

Hope breaks through

Poking through the grass 

 And leaves of autumn 

As life and light inevitably arise 

Amidst the death and ordinariness 

Of daily living, you remind us 

There is hope, and there are miracles, 

And golden opportunities 

 To look beyond the losses and the worries 

And find grace.

To be a boat

Oh, to be a boat, 

In such still waters,

 Calm, and yet in readiness 

For whatever storms might befall me, 

With bumpers out, and extra oars 

And rope to spare in case I need 

To offer or accept a tow; 

Content, assured, at peace, 

 Awash in halcyon reflections…

Choices

This compass has me thinking about choices: 

The decisions that we make — 

Sometimes hard, sometimes easy; 

Sometimes conscious, often unconscious — 

And what they say about who we are 

And what matters. 

What if we spent more time just noticing 

When opportunities arise to do or say 

Something that more accurately reflects 

 What we believe, who we are, 

And what’s really most important in our lives? 

Would that take us in a different direction?

Buck encounter

He greets me with what looks like suspicion 

 As I walk out to my car, 

 But that could be me projecting: 

It might be that he’s worried 

That I caught him sneaking apples from my tree 

Or maybe he just wonders 

If I’ll ever speak his language. 

Whatever he may be thinking,

 I always appreciate that moment of connection, 

And his beauty.

Entangled

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave 

When first we practice to deceive,” 

My mother used to say, and now 

I see how tangled our country has become 

In this winter of such discontent

 And long to be — or even see— 

Some light spot amid the branches 

Which might be truth, 

 Launching itself into the fray 

And driving home the need to find 

A way to reach through, and reach out 

To one another, spreading hope 

To grow like leaves, 

 Uniting branches in the spring 

Into a single tree again.

More frightening than Halloween

Halloween seems so much scarier this year: 

So many threats are looming 

For so many:

Hunger, and imprisonment; 

Joblessness and debt;

 Homelessness, and lack of medical care.

While those in power grow richer 

With each day. 

What happened to the principles 

 Our faith and nation were founded on: 

Truth, mercy, and equality, 

Life, liberty and justice for all?