Dreaming of Thoreau

Having been a huge fan of Thoreau in my youth, 

It’s no wonder that I’m drawn to scenes such as this:

 A lonely cottage on a pond, 

The sweet daydream of introverts everywhere…

Jump into the light!

There it is again, that invitation 

To somehow find your way through the weeds 

And step onto your next stop for adventure. 

Will you be dragging along your boat, 

Or will you just jump into the light?

Moonslide

Like my camera, the branches 

Attempt to capture the moon, 

But only briefly succeed 

Before she eludes their grasp 

To begin her long slow slide into the sea.

Mountain revealed

The delicate pastel shades 

Of the mountain in the morning 

Are a gift to all who might chance to be 

Awake at that early hour, 

As the mountain disappears shortly thereafter.

The echo of old songs

I see this ship pass by, 

In the silence of an evening sky, 

And that phrase, “A thousand people, maybe more” 

Comes into my head.

It takes a minute to remember where it’s from, 

And that, no, It’s TEN thousand people, maybe more, People talking without speaking, 

People hearing without listening… 

Amazing, how those lyrics 

Still echo through the years…

Good morning!

When morning gilds the skies… 🎶

Alone together

After the sun has set, 

And cars in the overlook drive away, 

There’s always a moment, however brief, 

When that silver lining at the base of the clouds 

Glows with a rosy blush, 

As if at last we are alone together, 

The sky and I.

Autumnal bliss

Afloat in a sea of autumnal bliss...

Patience

Some days, you really feel

Like you’re going somewhere, 

While other days, it’s hard not to feel 

That the world is passing you by. 

The trick is not to get caught up in either sensation; 

To rejoice in the blessings, 

Both when life speeds up 

And whenever it seems to have slowed to a crawl.

Heading for new possibilities

The path ahead may be lined with thorns, 

But I trust it will bring us 

To a place of grace, a greener land,

 Blessed with new possibilities.

Peaceable kingdom

May we all find a way to co-exist; 

To forgive, to respect, to trust and enjoy 

Our fellow creatures and bring about 

A true Peaceable Kingdom.

The invitation

The invitation’s always there: 

To step away from a busy day, 

To sit at the edge of the sun-dappled lawn 

 And watch the waves roll in 

To refresh the thirsty beach below; 

To look beyond immediacy 

To the islands in the distance, and dream…

The eve of destruction

My husband took this picture 

(I feel honor bound to say) 

Of yet another branch (Our third this month) 

The deer have broken from our trees. 

And, sure enough, guilty but unrepentant,

 This handsome miscreant told his friends, 

And all the leaves on the branches 

And the apples that had fallen

 Were all eaten by the end of the day; 

I guess this means autumn’s on its way.

Craving consensus

The stark contrast 

Between the white buildings 

And the dark sea and sky 

Is so pleasing, so riveting. 

I wonder if it satisfies 

Something in us that craves a world 

In which black and white, 

Right and wrong, 

Are clearly obvious to all…

The path you choose

Most of us know that feeling: 

To be outside looking in; 

To know you’ve something to offer, 

But folks are listening to someone else; 

The prophet unappreciated 

 In his own home town… 

The path you choose — 

 To speak up anyway, to leave, 

Or to pull into yourself — 

Will frame not only your future, but theirs.

The best way to heal

Sometimes the best way to heal 

Or even just to deal 

Is to be still, and to remain in light; 

To quietly appreciate 

 The warmth of a summer’s day 

And to trust, however briefly, 

That, for the moment, all is well.

Tangled web

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave 

When first we practice to deceive” 

Is what my mama used to say, 

And never has it seemed so obviously true. 

What does it tell you, that when I see 

This tangled mass I think of politicians?

When bullying fails

Here’s a photo I never expected to take: 

 Two hawks on a madrona branch. 

 But, like a fisherman, I wish you could see 

The one that got away, because 

Before I could get my camera out, 

The hawk on the left was chasing a squirrel 

 In circles around the base of a tree, 

Wings out, and screeching. 

Luckily, the squirrel was able 

To escape into the bushes — 

Which may be why the hawk’s now hiding his head: 

His bullying tactics have failed.

Asymmetry

My artist mother always preached 

The importance of asymmetry, 

Though she never explained why. 

So today I took two pictures — 

One with the boat centered, 

And this one, with it off to the right. 

And now I understand 

 The deeper significance of asymmetry: 

It’s not just that it’s pleasing to the eye; 

By moving the boat off to the side, 

 I give voice to the clouds and the sea. 

By centering the boat, we force the viewer 

 To focus there and miss 

 The beauty that surrounds it — 

Just as a leader who chooses to keep

All focus on himself

Devalues the gifts of those around him

And the organization he serves.

You’re not alone

You’re not all alone 

On the deep blue sea: 

The clouds and the islands 

Bear you company.

Sweetness awaits

No matter how much pain we’re in, 

Or how worried we are 

 About our children, our country,

 Or our future, 

Nature keeps sending us love letters: 

A beautiful sunset, the scent of rain, 

A garden of flowers, a gentle breeze —

 All reminders that life is larger than our concerns 

And sweetness awaits those who watch for it.

Morning blessings

What a gift, to wake up this morning 

 To a sky so full of color!

He waits

As the early morning sky 

Grows streaked with orange, 

He waits beneath the cherry tree 

Watching as I tiptoe through the yard 

To catch a glimpse of the sparkles on the sea.

Celebrating fruition

As summer draws to its inevitable close, 

The apples gather in the trees 

To celebrate their ripening; 

That season when they finally 

Achieve fulfillment and fruition.

Sleeping beauty

I don’t know the story of this house, 

But it speaks to me of desolation, desperation, 

Loss and loneliness. 

With no way in, and no way out, 

And no one with the energy 

To fight back all the thorns and thistles 

And turn this house back to a home: 

It makes me ache to see it.

Let us be light

With a glimpse of sunlight 

Through a rain-washed window, 

Framed by a darkened sky, 

Can a rainbow be far behind? 

Let us be the light that awakens rainbows 

When darkness threatens to overwhelm us all.

Where did the summer go?

I can’t believe it’s time already 

For the leaves to be turning red. 

Where did the summer go?

Nature’s consciousness

When the cloud mimics the trees 

On its horizon, we can postulate 

 That nature might be conscious of herself; 

Might even have a sense of humor; 

That the cloud teases the trees, 

And the trees chuckle among themselves, 

And feel more proud and beautiful, 

Having been flattered by her charming imitation.

Asking for help

There will be times 

When “doing what comes naturally” 

Gets us into trouble: 

Minor troubles, for the most part, 

But there may be problems 

We struggle to resolve on our own. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help: 

Your willingness to admit to need 

Is another’s opportunity to feel 

The pleasure of generosity.

How bountiful

The majestic sweep of bridge and sky, 

The mountains and the sea conspire 

To remind us just how small we are, 

And how fortunate, to reap the benefits 

Of living in so bountiful an environment.

Simple things

So kind of you to leave us your chairs 

That we might pause to enjoy the view 

While out on our evening walk. 

Imagine if kindness and finding pleasure 

In simple things 

Were goals all of us bought into…

Ordinary beauty

Perhaps, as John Cowper Powys suggests, 

Life would be sweeter 

 If we could learn to appreciate — Even enjoy — 

The beauty in the ordinary, 

So that even a trip to the mailbox 

Becomes a pleasant excursion…

Fire season

It’s fire season in our fair state, 

And though our little corner has been lucky so far, 

The major road onto our peninsula was closed 

All Thursday day and night 

For a fire that was finally contained 

But still burning when we drove out Friday. 

And so we were doubly grateful

for last night’s rain…

Seeking answers

Like the squirrel who leaps into my fig tree 

To sample its wares, 

We sample the answers 

 The world has to offer 

To the questions that trouble us most: 

Why, and what if, and how did this happen, 

And what might I do 

To accept or improve circumstances?

Simple pleasures

Let us never be so carried away 

By life’s trials and tribulations 

 That we forget to be grateful 

 For the simple pleasures that can greet us, 

Even in our darkest moments.

Abstraction

Abstraction requires a tolerance for ambiguity; 

An ability to live in a world 

That cannot be reduced to black and white 

Or right and wrong; 

Where one thing merges into another 

And the underlying understanding is 

That somehow, somewhere, 

Beneath all we know to be separate, 

Everything connects in mysterious ways.

Outshone

Who notices the moon at her slow rising, 

When the sun is filling the sky with color 

As she drops below the horizon? 

And yet it is the moon 

Who so bravely blesses the darkness, 

Sharing what little light she can muster 

With anyone who seeks it.

Peaceful reflections

Peaceful reflections on a sunny summer’s day 

Help us set aside the troubles of the world.

Let there be light

May the light that pours through these windows 

Pour through us as well.

Ignition to ashes

Long after the sun goes down, 

The sky is still ablaze with color, 

And yet, come morning, 

The sky is gray with fog; No colors to be seen. 

How like a life that seems, 

Or a brief moment’s celebrity:

 Ignition, and then ashes…

Illusion

Watch closely: 

There may be things you can’t explain; 

That don’t seem to jive 

 With your memory of how things were. 

Don’t be afraid; it may just be a trick of the light — 

Or perhaps some more sinister illusion…

Summer gardens

There is such grace in a summer garden; 

An alluring peace, an invitation 

To simply sit and breathe the scents 

Of a summer’s afternoon…

Moving forward

There are days when change is in the air 

And it all seems overwhelming. 

At times like this, it’s good to step back, 

Take a deep breath, and look at the long view. 

 Yes, you’re leaving the old life behind, 

With its clarity and familiarity, 

But a new life awaits, with new adventures, 

New potential, and opportunities for growth: 

Breathe again, and leap into it!

Seeking the light

May the thorny obstacles in our path 

Give way to the light that awaits us.

Inevitability of change

With just a single red leaf, 

Nature reminds us 

That nothing lasts forever; 

That summer always fades into fall, 

Just as surely as the dark days of winter 

Will warm into spring; 

That what is now will surely pass, 

And what awaits is always changing.

In mourning

The Pieta perfectly captures, 

Not just how any mother mourns the loss of a child, 

But how any human feels when watching 

Something pure and precious 

Be thoughtlessly destroyed. 

Helplessness in the face of things unfair 

Is always devastating.

The gift of space

There’s something about having —

 Or even just seeing — the space 

To dream, and to imagine a better, kinder world; 

To feel yourself a part of nature; 

To understand the underlying 

 Connectedness of things…

Fake vs. real

Though it looks like a painting,

 It’s a photograph, though I never figured out — 

Because it sat in a bowl of water — 

If the flower was real or artificial. 

And that’s how things seem to be, these days: 

We know, less and less, 

What is true and what is false; 

What’s human-generated 

And what’s AI…

How can we protect?

We’ve learned to erect scaffolding 

Around the buildings we need to protect and repair, 

But what scaffoldings have we put in place 

To protect and repair the principles, 

The morality and integrity 

Once established for our society?

Ageless beauty

How is an old barn like Cleopatra?

 “Age cannot wither her, 

Nor custom stale her infinite variety.” 

That which we love 

Seems ever beautiful before our eyes. 

If only we could learn to love 

Each moment in our lives…