My clay heart

Clay Heart, August 2024

                    My heart is imperfect, but it's mine; 

                        there is not another like it.

                    

                    My heart has fissures and fault lines around the edges

                        signs of years lived and brokenness too

                        yet, it is being healed from within.

                    

                    My heart is asymmetrical

                        and holds all my joys 

                        and sorrows in balance. 

                    

                    My heart was fashioned in love

                        and made for love. 

                    

 

The Cloud of Unknowing

Summer Reading, August 2024

                        God, to you all hearts are open, 

                        to you all longings speak, 

                        and to you no secret thing is hidden. 

                        I beg you -- 

                        purify the intentions of my heart 

                        through the unspeakable gift of your grace, 

                        so I can love you with all I am 

                        and praise you for all you are. 

                        Amen.

* Tonight is an exception. I usually use my own words, but the prayer from the preface of "The Cloud of Unknowing" has become one of my favorites.

Out of a Dream

The Field at Dawn, August 2024
Lakeview Methodist Conference Center

 

Just out of a dream

I stride into the morning

with an open heart

Blessings

Sunrise at Lakeview, August 2024
Lakeview Methodist Conference Center

 

                                        Blessings of the misty morning.

                                        Blessings of the deep evergreen.

                                        Blessings of the brushstroke sky.

                                        Blessings of the waiting pond.

                                        Blessings of the becoming heart.

                    

                    

            

Heart to Heart

The Visitation, August 2024

Swing wide your blue cloak

I'll swing wide my red until

we meet heart to heart

*Luke 1: 39-55

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

La Dona Luna (Our Lady of the Moon)

Full Moon at 7:10 a.m., August 2024

 

Over the rooftop

I still catch a glimpse of your

luminous beauty

Just over the fence

Rangoon Vine, August 2024

Just over the fence

a late summer bouquet bends 

toward the glowing sky

One Thousand

Gulf Fritillary on Shrimp Plant, August 2024

One thousand moments,

gifts delivered day by day

to my waiting heart

*Today marks my 1,000th post. One thousand days I have been visited by a gentle and gracious Presence in the world. One thousand times I snapped a photo and counted syllables for a haiku or offered a prayer or blessing. If you are reading this, thank you for being part of my passion project, my healing project. May it be a blessing. 

 

Silence

 

Blinded Sphinx Moth, August 2024

Silence comes to rest 

outside my door -- somehow

knowing I need her

The Reading Hour

Room with a View, August 2024

 

A chapter begins

my eyes keep leaving the page

to search the blue sky

In the Weeds

The Weeds, August 2024

When I see the weeds

in you and you in me, will

we love anyway?

Do I rush to dig

and pull before I confirm

what's really growing? 

Can I place my trust

in the One who tends our lives

with the greatest care?

Shadow into light

Japanese Beetle, August 2024

We all make our way

across the rough places from

shadow into light

The Wisdom of Redwoods: Reflections from a Silent Retreat

Watercolor Trees, August 2024

                     Oh Lord, 
                    

                    You are the dreaming tree

                          I have fixed my hopes 

                          and prayers to branches 

                          who shelter birds 

                          and barefoot children

                    You are the scent of 

                        magnolia and orange

                        You are the taste of crushed mulberries

                        that tell my mother 

                        where I've been

                    You are bright 

                        with the yellow 

                        of paloverde and huisache 

                        the pink of rosebud, 

                        tulip and rain tree

                    You are fixed with a rope swing

                        we dare each other to climb 

                        and catch hold

                        taking a freefall of delight 

                        under your blessed canopy

* Last Saturday, I attended a silent retreat gathered around the redwoods and trees as images for the spiritual journey. I recalled particular trees that had been part of my childhood, especially at my home and the homes of my grandparents. The prayer poem comes out of my reflections. 

Fearfully and wonderfully made

Black Swallowtail, August 2024

Farewell confinement

each detail of your new form

is pure perfection

 

It's alright

Verbena, August 2024

 

It's alright to fall

into your own reverie

on late summer days