Trying to blend in?

Lunate Zale Moth, April 2023

 

Trying to blend in?

you simply cannot hide how

exquisite you are

Remembering

Japanese Honeysuckle, April 2023

Sweet honeysuckle

transports me to times

and places gone by

Remembering

Hibiscus in the birdbath, April 2023

 

Do we remember

how to float, to be held in

love's fluidity?

(insert your name here)

Mexican Hat Wildflower, April 2023

A festive swirl spins

and from endless shades of green

sunshine calls your name

 

Recovery

Geranium, April 2023

In February,

it seemed you were lost to me,

but look at you now!

* The garden is a good teacher when it comes to reminding me that what seems lost can be found again. May it be so!

Treasure in the Tree

Tree with a knot hole, April 2023

 

Can you imagine

finding treasure in the tree 

just like Scout and Jem?

*I passed by this tree on an evening walk and immediately remembered reading "To Kill A Mockingbird" in school. I'm recalling the part of the novel where main character Scout and her brother Jem discover a series of assorted trinkets and treasures hidden in the knothole of a tree. For me the treasure in this photo is the pie slice of sky and green branches. 

A Perfect Bluebird

Bluebird, April 2023
photo by Riley Anderson

 

A perfect bluebird

perches in the rain to bring

wonder and delight

* My son shared this photo with me from his afternoon walk. Apparently this bluebird was unafraid and stayed for a few moments before flying away. So grateful that he shared this moment with me. 

Within Reach

Dewberries, April 2023

Bend low to the ground

deep sweetness is within reach

look, and keep looking

Morning Walk

 

A mild morning

on a blue sky kind of day

brings Spring to the heart

Finding my way

Pathway, April 2023

I keep taking steps

along well worn pathways and

by grace find my way

From the good earth

Tomato from Dad's Garden, April 2023

 

Tended with great care,

ripened in the windowsill,

a taste of Heaven

Passing By

Evening Primrose, April 2023

 

Blessed solitude

open to only to the sky 

and those passing by

Joy

Living Room Still Life, April 2023

Collected treasures

small tokens of happiness

bring joy to the day

Blushing

Rose of Sharon, April 2023

 

Framed by shadowed green

blushing with your ruffled blush 

as evening arrives

Give it all away

Fields & Crop Storage, April 2023
Hillje, Texas

 

Unlock the storeroom

of your hidden goodness and

give it all away

Real Beauty and Real Pain

Poppies, April 2023

Open my eyes to

the real beauty and the real

pain of those I love 

* Over the last few days, I have come to know that many people I love are in pain. Pain of uncertainty,  pain in their body, pain in their family and relationships, pain of transitions. My eyes seek beauty everyday in the created world and today I acknowledge that pain is a real part of the world too. What can I do to comfort? What can I do to listen? How am I praying for those I love? For those in pain? How am I honest about my own pain? And how it is soothed (not solved) by beauty? Lord, have mercy. 

Cup, catch, carry

Poppies, April 2023

 Cup your hands, your heart

to catch the morning light and 

carry it all day

The exuberant chorus

Orange Lilies, April 2023

Bright orange bursts call us

to join the exuberant

 chorus of springtime

A Prayer

 Light in the Window, April 2023
Pecos Benedictine Monastery, New Mexico

 

Set a strong frame 'round

the light of your love - and all

will be illumined

Hope

Dawn, April 2023
Pecos Benedictine Monastery, New Mexico

 

Before dawn, my eyes

are trained to the sky where hope

meets the horizon

The Reeds

Morning Walk, April 2023
Pecos Benedictine Monastery, New Mexico

 

A quiet morning

allows me to hear the reeds

whispering good news

"A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;"

Isaiah 42:3 (NIV)

A Poem for Good Friday by Kathy Shaidle

Sun-washed, April 2023
Benedictine Abbey, Pecos NM

Good Friday, Georgia O'Keefe

tumbleweed mesas cactus etcetera

Georgia O'Keefe picked flowers for the greenhouse
behind her scrimshaw face.

When she walked into the middle of the crucifixion no one noticed.
Eventually bystanders got bored and went home for lunch.

Stretched canvas.

Inspired but out of red paint,
Georgia squatted patient in the
crumbs of ten million champagne glasses
and looked up at this new kind of cactus.

Waiting for time to take its communion.
Waiting for bones.

from Gas Stations of the Cross
poems by Kathy Shaidle, 1990 

* When I was first re-discovering poetry, this one by Canadian writer, Kathy Shaidle found me. Since then, it has always come to mind during Holy Week. I think the way Shaidle weaves in the spirit of Georgia O'Keefe caught me in a way, back then. And, it does still. Last week, while on retreat in Pecos, New Mexico, these two sticks were propped at the corner of our building. I walked by them several times each day and thought they were exactly the kind of thing Georgia O'Keefe would have painted. Peeking around the corner is a view of the magnificent blue sky and a distant cross in the field. The cross of Jesus seems distant by 2,000 years, but somehow closer tonight. Lord, have mercy.

** Most of the time, I am using my own words for posts, but I couldn't resist borrowing from an admired writer tonight. 

Lucky me

Mourning Cloak Butterfly, April 2023
Pecos Benedictine Monastery, Pecos NM

Lucky me to see

from the corner of my eye

the flash of your wing

Bare

Wild Rose by the River, April 2023

 

Bare branches reside

in the truth of who they are

as winter passes

The running river,

faithful witness to the wild

roses in her heart

Evergreen

Pecos Evergreen, April 2023
Pecos Monastery, New Mexico

 

Forever gazing

across meadow and mountains

never tiring