Give Us, Keep Us

Ready to Make Friends with Poetry? ⟶

This viburnum blooms every year in my yard in January. That’s the main reason I bought it–to have some color (and fragrance) in the dead of winter. I live in the Pacific Northwest and we have our seasons. I’ll say. But there’s something else about January–the declaration of the joy of a new start. A…
Several years ago I was glancing out the window in my study when a Facebook message popped up with a link to Gabriel’s Oboe, a composition by Ennio Morricone from The Mission movie soundtrack. I’d seen the film years before but did not remember this particular piece. It is simple strings and gentle notes from…
“The whole universe was stilled as though listening for a voice. For the space of one heart-beat there was peace on earth. For one fraction of a moment there was no deed of violence wrought on the earth, no hatred, no fire, no whirlwind, no pain, no fear. Existence rested against the…
Today I travel to Southern California for the wedding of the decade. Well, for my family, it’s the wedding of the decade. I am the oldest of 5 children and the last time my brothers and sisters and I were together with our spouses was 1999. My sister L’s only son is…
More thoughts from my Deck Time, prompted by ‘God in the Yard’ (Spiritual Practice for the Rest of Us)**, an ongoing full stop in the middle of my days. There’s a scientific rule, I think, about forward motion–the more intensely and quickly an object is moving, the harder it is to slow down. Something like…
Because I cannot do 500 words a day every morning and well, frankly, wonder at those who do. From my files (circa 2008, long before this blog.) ~~~~~~~~~ I hate it that I am so sporadic Inconsistent, not persistent, no straight ahead in a line to the finish. I’m distracted, side-tracked Stops and starts,…