Notice tenderness

When violence and cruelty,

 Insanity and injustice 

Seem to dominate the news, 

Noticing instances 

Of tenderness and compassion 

Can help restore your soul.

What the camera reveals

I took three pictures of this fence,

 But this is the only one in which 

The clouds, and even the lines of trees 

Echo the line of the fence; 

In which the camera noticed what I didn’t see — 

 And that’s the joy of photography: 

When the spirit moves you to take a picture, 

And it’s only later that you discover 

 The beauty that’s revealed…

Beneath the island

Those days when you feel like an island, 

Singled out by the clouds 

For either praise or injustice, 

It’s good to remember that beneath the sea 

We are all solidly connected, 

One to another and each to all.

Choosing to bloom

To choose to bloom 

When blooming will highlight 

The differences between you 

And those around you 

Will take courage…

 Bloom anyway!

Recovery

Having left a golden chain tree behind 

At a previous home, 

I longed to add one to our yard 

When we moved. 

So we planted one three years ago, 

But before we could fence it in 

The deer ate all its lower branches. 

For the next two years it stayed almost bare, 

Growing just a few leaves, 

But finally this year it has recovered 

 And sprouted glorious chains — A reminder:

We, too, with patience and time, 

Can recover from our losses.

Return to Eden

A garden is such a gift to all who walk in it: 

It’s as if, for just a moment, 

We were returned to Eden; 

To the original purity of the world.

Contortions

Mama was determined to rest,

 But baby was determined to suckle. 

Ah, the contortions we go through 

To get our needs met…