Remnants

Do you ever wonder 

What traces we will leave behind? 

Will it just be the shape of the life we led, 

Or will there be some remnants 

Of the heart that filled it?

The path before us

The path before us now is old and worn, 

But we’ve not walked it in far too long, 

And have forgotten how and what to expect. 

Walk it anyway, and trust 

That the collaboration it entails 

Will lead to better times for all.

A range of colors

I think it’s the range of colors 

That’s so incredibly satisfying,

 Not just among the trees, 

But among the folks who’ve been elected 

This time around: A celebration of diversity!

Moving forward

It’s going to take some creative thinking 

To get us back on track, 

But I’m thinking that we have what it takes 

To get us moving forward again: 

Courage, imagination, and a willingness 

To think outside the box!

Autumnal color

I have always loved autumn. 

Everywhere I look, such beautiful colors; 

That last hurrah before the winter grays 

Leach all color from the landscape…

What can we do to help?

Here we sit, 

At the brink of a new day; 

A new adventure. 

What’s our most important task, 

And how can we best proceed,

 In a way that betters the lives 

Of all who are struggling — 

Not just to thrive, but to survive?

Bridging the gaps

And now it’s time to start reaching out; 

To make a concerted effort to bridge the gaps 

Between red and blue, black and white, 

Between rich and poor, male and female 

Between old and new, fear and hope;

Between what has been and what could be 

Better, kinder, more thoughtful, 

More honest, and more egalitarian.

On the fence

Like this gull, we’ll all be watching today, 

Whichever party we follow: 

Hoping for good news, 

Fearing the bad news, 

And feeling like we’re standing on the fence 

Between now and a brighter — 

Or darker — tomorrow.

What’s Not Evergreen

As for me, I continue to prefer 

The evergreens that grow in my yard 

To the ships that pass on the nearby sea…

Rested up for what’s to come

Even the deer enjoyed 

That extra hour of sleep 

We all received last night, 

But now it’s time to set our clocks back 

And prepare for the winter ahead.

As skies grow gray

As skies grow gray and the winds grow cold, 

We seek other ways to fill our lives 

With warmth and color...

Let goodness shine

Awakening late this morning 

After a night of troubled sleep,

 I wander into the kitchen for coffee 

And see the mountain,

 Glowing in the distance 

Despite the cloud cover and the rain, 

Inspiring hope in my troubled breast.

 Let goodness shine like the mountain, 

Cries my heart: 

Let goodness shine!

Dark clouds ahead

How many of us lie awake at night 

Worrying about the coming storms? 

So many warnings come throughout the day— 

Of weather, war, of risk, and retributions… 

The clouds ahead are dark, and thickening fast, 

But still we trust, and continue to move forward.

Something loftier

No matter what we’ve planted or built, 

The sky can always offer 

A magnificent counterpoint to the scene: 

A gentle reminder 

There’s always something loftier 

Than our immediate concerns…

Gossip

When word spreads there’s something to munch on, 

The gulls come flying in, just as 

When word spreads of misbehavior 

The gossips and press come flying in, 

Clamoring for the juiciest bits. 

Isn’t it amusing — and occasionally disturbing — 

How like the animals we are; 

How far we’ve come, yet still so close…

Lessons from a fawn

This image, of a fawn 

Attempting to chew a fig leaf, 

Triggers that phrase my mom used to use: 

Don’t bite off more than you can chew! 

Eventually she dropped the leaf 

And scurried away, leaving me wondering: 

What huge problems I can’t solve 

Could be broken down into more manageable pieces?

The Decisive Moment

Awakened in a bedroom awash with moonlight 

After a night of incessant rain,

 I rush downstairs to photograph the moon, 

 Now tucked between the clouds 

And blushing from the sun’s slow rise 

But first I must feed demanding cats, 

And by the time I’m done

The clouds have almost completely hidden 

The orb I’d hoped to capture 

And here’s all that’s left to see:

 Bresson’s Decisive Moment, gone again.

Autumn

Autumn, 

And the sunsets seem more subtle, 

Now the sun is disappearing behind the trees.

 We’ve moved on, and so has the sun,

 Stepping apart for a season or two; 

We’ll find some other source of heat 

To keep us warm til the sun returns 

Full strength again. 

Others may follow her south to warmer climes, 

But we’ll stay cool…

Keep holding on

I look at this old tree, 

Gritting its teeth and holding on, 

Supporting all those glorious branches, 

And am inspired: we can do this. 

We can — and will — keep holding on, 

Keep supporting those who need us to be strong, 

Gritting our teeth and powering through 

Despite whatever losses we’ve endured.

A network of dependencies

Each of us is carried through this life 

By a support system, 

 Though it may be virtually invisible 

To those whom it carries: 

There’s so much we depend upon — 

Water, electricity, 

 Our food, our fuel, the internet, 

Our roads, and the way the traffic moves — 

All built, delivered, or established 

By group efforts of folks we rarely see or know, 

Working together to meet the needs of many; 

A network of dependencies.

Rhetoric

I wonder if rhetoric works a bit like fog; 

Takes something that’s is actually 

 Untidy and disorganized 

And casts a light upon it 

That makes it seem somehow 

Rational and appealing…

Resistance

I wish I had the resistance of this leaf; 

That the disappointments in the daily news 

Would not infect my mood, 

But simply roll off, 

Like beads of water on a waxy leaf. 

But that, of course, would mean 

I could not feel — not just the pain of others 

But the joy of parental love, 

Of sunsets and shadows, 

Of creating and embracing; 

Of watching nature evolve through the seasons…

We are the light

That which you see, looming over us, 

Is both the future and our past: 

We are the light that can choose to guide 

The weary travelers home again; 

 Out of the shadows and back into 

 A kinder, gentler world 

Whose denizens take care of one another: 

Tend the sick, soothe the suffering, 

Pity the afflicted, bless the dying 

And shield all those 

Who’ve found their way to Joy.

When storm clouds loom

How do you react when the storm clouds loom? 

Do you run for cover, stand by a window, 

Or rush outside, hoping to feel the wind in your hair; Hoping to dance in the rain? 

Because there’s always another storm 

Waiting around the corner, 

And you might want to try something different…

Colorful

We rejoice upon seeing 

A tree with many colors. 

How can we not welcome 

A community of many colors?

Light and shadow

How amazing is it, 

That when light and shadow combine, 

The simplest scene takes on 

Both mystery and beauty. 

When will we learn to appreciate 

 That uniformity doesn’t necessarily imply 

Perfection?

Reliance

Morning, 

And the ferries ply their trade 

Among the islands of the north, 

Carrying children to their schools 

And commuters to their jobs 

While others seek vacations 

Or must travel for medical care. 

And all the travelers rely upon 

A handful of workers 

Who rise early and work overtime, 

That the ferries might run safely, 

And on time.

In black and white

Some scenes just render better In black and white, 

Just like some answers are true or false. 

That said, those shades of gray can add 

A revealing complexity in both photos and decisions: 

Be wary of judgments 

That don’t take them into consideration.

Hard Choices

Conditioned by one of the worst 

Wildfire seasons in our state’s history, 

I assumed this plume of smoke 

Seen from a distant island 

Meant we weren’t done yet, 

Despite the recent rains, 

But no, it’s just our paper mill, 

Which, these days, is a burning issue, 

But that’s a fire of a different sort, 

In which attempts to protect the lives of workers 

 May mean risking their jobs. Hard choices…

Contradiction

What is it about us humans, 

That we treasure the opportunity 

 To collect that which is rare

 (Like waiting for this light to turn red 

When it mostly glows white) 

Yet are so quick to demonize 

Whichever folks are rarest 

In our communities; 

To pound down whichever nails 

Appear to stick up or stand out?

This island life

It seems idyllic, this island life; 

To sail amid the gulls and whales 

And live the quiet rural life 

Away from the busyness and noise 

Distractions and demands the city brings, 

Until the disadvantages — 

The lack of jobs and health care 

And other limitations 

 That can complicate island existence — 

Begin to overwhelm the joys: 

 What then?

Try a little tenderness

I watch the tenderness of the doe 

With her now five-month-old fawn 

And it awakens the same tenderness in me 

That I feel watching my daughter 

With her new kittens, replacements 

After her beloved old tabby passed: 

That longing to see humanity 

Caring for other humans 

As thoughtfully and gently 

As we care for our pets.

Loving fog

I love the otherworldliness of fog; 

I always have: the way 

 The inconsequential becomes mystical 

And distracting backgrounds disappear, 

And how I always seem to have that beauty 

All to myself, while the rest of the world 

Shelters indoors...

Tender reminders

After several days of fog — 

You can still see remnants of it, 

There on the right — 

It was doubly glorious 

To see the mountain revealed again

 At the base of a magnificent sunrise, 

As if we’d met someone who reminded us 

How strong and blessed we truly are 

And brought out the best in us.

Perception

What catches your eye? 

The criss-cross of power lines, 

The mountains, or the trees? 

Each has a role to play 

While masking the lagoon 

That lies hidden in their midst. 

What seems obvious to one 

May seem less so to another 

Or pale compared to facts not known to all…

 I’m grateful for the journalists 

Who care more about the truth 

Than sensational self-service.

Look east!

Yet another gentle reminder 

To take a moment to look east 

When the sun is setting in the west. 

Nature, like a magician, 

Often allows the showy stuff, 

The sparkles and sequins of the natural world, 

To distract us from her subtleties 

And sleight of hand…

A change of attitude

What if we were to greet 

Each person, place, or thing that we encounter 

As a treasure; a gift meant to bring joy, 

A possible adventure Or a learning opportunity 

That only needs to be unwrapped to be revealed?

Tried and True

I know.

 I’m a little banged up, 

A little rough around the edges, 

And my ropes are a bit frayed, 

And badly stained, 

But I can still get you wherever you need to go, 

Just as smoothly as I ever did. 

And have you noticed how much beauty 

There is in the tried and true?

Love letter from the wild

Upon seeing the shapely curves of this wild weed Displayed among the grass and thistles, 

One might mentally complete 

Those gracious arcs into hearts 

And see them as a love letter, 

Carved by nature and intended 

To reward all those who take the time 

To appreciate the humble beauty in the ordinary…

Return to center

This is it, the center, 

That deep and quiet place 

Where we take ourselves 

When we need to get in touch 

With what is right and true; 

When we need to nurse our wounds 

Or send out comfort for the wounds of the world. 

Sit here a while; rest, and restore.

Autumnal flowers

As autumn colors steal into the trees, 

We drink in the simple pleasure 

Of wildflowers by the waterside 

And grasses grown green again, 

Fed by September mist and fog, 

All signs that winter waits 

Just around the corner.

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.