Twinkling Christmas lights fade
Snowman family on the corner
Waving goodbye. Until next year!
Santa and his sleigh? Long gone
Nativity scenes? Packed away
Beautiful reminders of
Love and innocence
Drawing smiles from even
The grumpiest of Scrooges
Shhh! That’s our little secret
Realizations accompanied
By gray morning skies
And approaching cold
As deer graze in the field
A little while longer
Tag: nature
Goodbye, Hello
Leafless, yet not lifeless
Able to feel
The sun’s rays
Warming the core of
Bare, gray branches-
Smiling contently while
Sharing the sun’s warmth
With young evergreens
Standing close behind-
Wisdom gained with
The passing of time
Wisdom intertwined with
Roots buried deep
Wisdom acknowledging
The continuous
Changing of seasons-
One year, waving goodbye
As a new one says hello-
Grateful for the
Warmth of the sun
Reaching the core of
Bare, gray branches-
Understanding the space
Created by fallen leaves
Allowed for the sharing
Auld Lang Syne- Kelley Morris, piano
Simply Sunday
Dear Sunshine
I’d almost forgotten
The way you instantly
Lift my spirits
How, even before
Coming into view
I feel your warmth on my face-
Such a gift-
I’m sorry for sometimes
Taking you for granted
Especially in the summertime-
Thanks for visiting today
Hope to see you again tomorrow
Simply Sunday
The Earth is still
Cold and quiet
Not frozen to the core
Yet, longing to
Soak in and reflect
Any ray of sunlight
Able to reach the surface-
What about my heart?
Is it cold, quiet, frozen?
Or simply longing-
Longing to remember
The love sent long ago-
A precious baby
Held close by His mother
Greeted by cattle and sheep
While angels filled the sky
Lunch Outside
The midday sun
Warms my face
While a cool hint-of-fall breeze
Brushes my hair gently across my eyes-
I don’t mind the combination
Sweet whispers float among the trees
As leaves that have fallen too early
Crawl across the pavement
Before resting in the dirt-
There are sirens in the distance
One after another
I don’t count-
Curious about the mixture of sounds
I wonder what happened?
Is someone hurt?
Are all the sirens headed in the same direction?
Fear begins to grow
Then the sirens suddenly stop-
I sit still, remain silent
As the mid-day sun
Warms my face
While a cool hint-of-fall breeze
Brushes my hair gently across my eyes-
I don’t mind the combination
Silence
It challenges me-
In my car?
Turn on some music
Home alone?
Flip on the TV
Why not simply sit
With my thoughts?
They tend to shift
Quite rapidly
And are often
Accompanied by
Vivid images-
My quiet time
Quickly becomes
A cacophony
No one else can hear
A barrage of photos
No one else can see-
Perhaps I should
Take a walk-
Listen closely to the
Birds and the Breeze-
Let their songs clear
The cobwebs away
Making room for peace
Simply Sunday
Transformation
It’s not for lack of trying
You soak in every
Drop of rain
Bask in each
Ray of sunlight
Stand tall in your
Strongest strong
Timing and balance
In this current season
Are just a bit off
Not that you hold
Any control where
These particular changes
Are concerned-
One thing is certain
Changes will occur
But even when your
Branches sway, bare
In Winter’s breeze
Your beauty will not fade
Muted Colors
If only I could grasp
A corner of the sky
Between my fingertips
And carefully peel it back
Like removing
The protective covering
From a brand-new mirror
So that the fuzzy images
Suddenly become clear-
If only I could grasp
A corner of the sky
Between my fingertips
And carefully peel it back
Perhaps the colors of Fall
Would no longer appear muted
Their transformation revealing
Deep reds and golden yellows-
I cannot peel back
A corner of the sky
But I can remember
This is only a season
And in certain seasons
Peace for an anxious heart
Quietly lingers within
The softly muted colors
Dampened Cheek
Rain continues to fall
While the wind rests
My racing thoughts
And rapid pulse
Gratefully embrace
A moment of calm-
The saturated ground
Swells, painfully aware
Of its limited capacity
Struggling as the rain
Completely unaware
Continues to fall
Like a continuous stream
Of tears rolling down
An already dampened cheek
Unsure of their destination-
Will the tears be brushed
Away by hands, dry and cracked
From denial and indifference
Or allowed to freely flow
Softening hearts
As the rain softened the ground
Lesson in the Sunrise
A dark cloud of apathy
Split the morning
Perfectly in half
Left to linger
The damage left behind
Will be impossible to mend-
Strange, love exists
On both sides
Of the darkness
I must believe it does-
Rays of hope
Able to burnish holes
Through the shadows
Of indifference
Affording hope even
In the murkiest of storms-
Light joining hands
Across the darkness
On a recent morning drive, I noticed an unusual sunrise. From my vantage point, a large dark cloud divided the sun’s fiery red glow in half. The clarity of the division was daunting. Yet despite the chasm, beauty existed in each half.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
