Plastic Rose

Incongruous

Orange flower of

Faded plastic

Drinks in winter sunlight

Waiting through the cold outside

Alone, still bright.

Mum

Whiter than a dove's wing

Touched with palest green,

Winter flower, you are a

Tea cup of spring's promise.

Sea Shell

Curves and curls,

Pearled and striped with brown

Spiral record of ocean time

Counting years like tree rings.

Boy in Snow

Smile in Dad's eyes sparkles

And the grinning of his son. 

Brighter even than the sunlight

In joy at his boy's fun. 

Dove

Noah watched and waited

At the window of the ark

Would the dove he'd sent

Return to him that day?

Then a flutter in the morning

Caught his ear, proved

To him God remembered. 

Healing had come. 

In his beak the dove carried

A green olive twig

Flood over; life back

Earth dry. White dove -

Messenger of peace

Carrier of hope

Tomorrow's restoration

New beginning.

Holiday Colors

Red and green

Christmas colors

Pine boughs and candy canes

Poinsettas and ivy

Glass balls, blinking lights

Fir trees, mistletoe

Ribbons, cherries

Little girls in velveteen dresses

Packages swaddled in bright paper

Tied with red bows

Christmas colors

Red and green

Wreath

Even the tiniest wreath can say

Welcome to our house Christmas Day.

Scent of forest come inside

Lures us to the countryside.

Christmas Eve

Colors and lights

Sparkle and spangle

Shimmer and glimmer

Christmas tree.

Glass and wood

Plastic and metal

Shimmer and glimmer 

Christmas tree.

Joy and delights

Good tidings and cheer

Shimmer and glimmer

Christmas tree.

Winter Sky

Sky,

Blue as a baby boy's blanket

Winter sky,

Azur like an ocean

Filled with rolling white breakers

A seascape awash with clouds,

Sky,

Lit with cool daylight.

Tree branches bare themselves to you

Sunbathing on your 

Earthy shore.

Light Show

Whirly,

Swirly trails of light

Orange, red, blue, 

Yellowey, green;

Strings of incandescence

Waves of musical brightness

Twirls and curls

Of 

Shimmering 

Shining show!

My Own Front Door

Home 

Front door 

Welcomes in

Neighbor and friend,

Stranger and vagabond,

Welcomes

When I am far away

Calls to me,

Beckons me home.

Joy

Little lamb

Jesus

Come to earth

Born in a stable

Little lamb 
Little lamb
Jesus 
Precious lamb of God

You bring

Joy!
 Joy! Joy! Joy!

Pomegranate

Pomegranate

Mysterious fruit 

Whose shape graced 

Ancient temple walls

Whose skin, shiny and thick,

Hides brightest red crystals

Bursting with tangy juice

And bitter seeds

Pomegranate.

December Flowers

Flowers of winter

Blooms 

Whiter than snow

And crimson

As red as cardinal wings!

Gold like the dawning light

Green as a fir tree.

December blooms

Chrysanthemums. 

Christmas Candiy

Chocolate fudge,

Pecan pralines, peppermints, 

Divinity in sweet white fluffs,

Candy canes, creamy caramels,

Lollipops, truffles, sugar plums,

Ah, the treats of the season!

Watering Can

Wood is ready for the fire

But still not needed

Today the sun is warm

The watering can still out 

From summer days

Is blue, sad, unneeded,

Firewood is happy for the reprieve!

Gray Barn

Past your prime, 

Weary and bedraggled,

Barn, you once were the talk 
Of the countryside.

You were the jewel of the farm,

The envy of neighbors. 

Bright and new, efficient,

Well-designed and nicely appointed

Convenient, warm and loved

You once housed cows and horses

Chickens roosted in your rafters.
 Piglets were born 
Behind you in the pigpen.

Your loft held sweet summer's hay 
And a place to play on rainy winter days for 

A farmer's children
 Later for his grandchildren.

Your big double doors opened wide
 To warm summer days, 

Held out sleet, snow, and icy wind on 
Frosty December and January nights

Old barn, now you sit resting from your work,

Aged with the work,
 The weather, and the years.
Your farmers are gone on 
To their rest 
Before you.

Winter Berries

Winter berries 

Brighten the brown and gray world;

Splashing the drab page with orange paint

Singing the color of autumn pumpkins, 

Summer zinnias, 

Shouting the orange of spring tulips 

All winter through.

Cider

Apple cider like caramel 

From a tree; every drop

Beautiful and sweet

The juice of windfalls,

Over-ripened red and golden beauties,

Gathered and pressed

Salvaged like hidden treasure.

The taste of autumn's sunshine

Bottled up to be enjoyed 

Again on cold winter days.

Tea Time

To share a slice of sweet cake

Still buttery warm from the oven

And a cup of fresh hot tea

With someone you love,

Makes a wintry day a celebration

Of home, family, and friendship

Name Change, Please

Startling colors for winter

Your leaves brighten days and lift spirits

Your curls and swirls amuse me.

Croton, your name doesn't fit you;

It isn't playful enough.

Ginkgo

Ginkgo leaves, like tiny fans

In the hands of proper southern belles, 

Wave and flutter in the trees. 

Soon they will lose their grip, then

With no more sound than a whisper,

Drop into the golden circle 

On the grass below
To become a part of the past.

Mosaic

The pieces of our lives 

Arranged in rows and lines

By months and years.

In groupings

The light and the dark,

The bright, the colors,

The textures of

Happy and sad,

Of lonely times,

Of family times,

The touchings of friendships

Glued to each other with love's mortar.

Each piece large or small 

Fits together, like a patchwork quilt;

Makes our unique picture

Our humanity

Our stories 

God's design for our days.

Definition

What men can create, craft, design,

Becomes your art when you play 

Light and shadow on it.

I see this iron fence in rain;

Droplets running down each curve

Like the surfaces of country roads in spring.

I imagine it with whitest snow 

Along the top bar and the spaces of the lower edge

Filling the lower curves of each circle.

I know it in summer with hot sun

And shade of towering oak trees, 

Making shadows dance there to silent music.

A gift you give to the sons of man 

To let him create objects of beauty and usefulness

You made us like you in this way. 

You add the crown of change

To that men makes, builds, grows

You define beauty.

Savannah River Bridge

Like another ship 

With wind in its sails,

The river bridge straddles the river.

In the afternoon light.

Blue sky with wind-whipped clouds

Is another ocean of crashing waves

A sailor longs to cross.

Decorations

Lights and chimes

And nursery rhymes

Christmas's dreamy side.

Satin wisps 

And candle drips

The heady scent of pine.

Spick and sparkle

Tinsel and twinkle

Christmas sure is fine.

Morning Flowers

Cups to hold sunshine,

Color and dew

What would my morning be

Without you?

Paris Roses

One busy day

 I rested

In a small shop

Sipped a French Soda

At a round marble-topped cafe table

Sweet and simple pink roses

In a fluted silver vase

Sang to me

Smiled at me

Joy, simple, sweet!

God's hand in every place

Gives me flowers.

Praline

Sweet confection

From sugar cane growing

Tall in summer heat,

From groves of spreading trees,

To my waiting mouth.

Who imagined you?

Who created your mix of butter, sugar, and pecans;

Who boiled and stirred; 

Who beat and stirred and spooned you 

A puddle of wonderful sweetness?

Praline

Savannah

Aged city crouched waiting above the river

All rivers run to the sea

All rivers run to the sea

Port city where laden ships come and go

All rivers run to the sea

All rivers run to the sea

Brick city weathered by time and salt

All rivers run to the sea

All rivers run to the sea

Camellia Sisters

Sisters growing close and looking alike

The shy one standing a bit behind the other

Feeling safer in the shade of the brighter 

And more outgoing personality.

Sisters together, strengthening each other

Holding tight, needing each other,

Staying close, upholding each other

Sisters cheering each other on

Sisters, taking a bow. 

The Greeter

Funny little donkey,
What makes you so cross?
Your tone is quite demanding,
Who made you the boss?

Hee haw! Hee haw !

Hee haw! Hee haw!  

Hee haw!

Children run to pet you
You frighten them away
Your head raised up, your ears back, 
Belt out your throaty bray

Hee haw! Hee haw !

Hee haw! Hee haw!  
Hee haw!

Nest

Robin, your nest is as disarrayed

A home as mine feels some days.

Your sticks a hasty clutter

Sighing against order

Battling precision

Fighting organization,

Just finding shelter,

Sweet peace.

I know you loved this leafy retreat

Where spring's green grew around 

You and shaded your family

Where voices were close by

Still you could hide;

We are not too much different

You and I.

Pampas Grass

Wave in the autumn sky

Your plumes like feathers

As I pass by.

Sweep summer from the air

Erase the dust of heat

And webs of care.  

Sweetgum

Beauty of the autumn

Ah, sweet sweetgum tree,

Bearing pointed star leaves

And prickly spheres of seed.

They're the bane of every lawn man

And still yet it seems to me 

There is no greater beauty

Than the sweetgum tree!

Your foliage turns a yellow

Then orange as pumpkin rind

Red like candied apples

Then purple as fine wine.

Bushel Basket

Bushel of bounty

Pecans from the leaf-lovely ground

Nuts for Thanksgiving pies,

For Christmas candies,

For caramels, fudge, and divinity

Pecans for banana bread, 

For brown sugar pound cake

For cookies and ice cream

Sundae toppings!

Red Flower

Late bloom

Afternoon light

Shines yellow through

Your red petals

Makes you glow

Like flame

Like heat left behind

By summer is inside.

Picket Fence

White picket fence 

A housewife's dream

Shut the traffic out

But let the light,

Let friends,

Let sweet wafts of fragrant air,

Let leaves, and summer, 

And flowers, and sunshine, and wonder 

Stay.

Fallen Tree

Once towering above the sand

Once waving a leafy head above the water's edge

Now the tree lies resting. Retired? No, still busy providing food, refuge, shelter

Providing windbreak and helping hold the sand 

from erosion in the wind

Making a seat for a traveler, 

a balancing beam for happy children,

Still ready to be wood for a fire, fuel for cooking. 

Tree-- ever a servant, a gift, a joy.

Dinner Setting

On a day we've set aside for giving thanks

To God for our plenty, I notice

He gives us a huge dose of more plenty.

Our thanks turns into more blessing for us.

Are we confused? Have we missed the point?

Or is that the point?

We serve a God who provides for us.

We serve a God who shares instead of demanding.

We don't bring bowls of food to set out for Him;

He gives bowls to us instead.

Thank you, Jesus,

Thank you for being you.

Violets

Atop the green of leaves 

Flowers sit like beauty queens

On the open tops of convertibles

Though the air is cold,

Though the parade-goers rowdy,

They smile.

They wave, never ruffled

In their sparkly sequined dresses.

Bread

Bread - the food of the world

Every nation,

Every tribe has a bread

Bread

Swedish loaves dark with rye

American white loaves of sourdough,

Tortillas in Mexico made of corn.

Bread - the staple of every clime

Every country;

Every village has a bread.

Bread

French baquette, English scone,

Middle east pita and Jewish challah,

India's chapati and Irish Soda.

Bread - A food of life,

Ever eaten

Where people find comfort

Bread

At humble kitchen tables, in richest homes,

Served in the soup kitchens, carried in the streets

Jesus served his friends bread and spoke of life.

Autumn in the Air

Between the rails of the garden fence

Leaves have lodged to peaceful sleep

The winter through, quiet, waiting,

For spring rain and warm sun

To replace them on the branches overhead

 And grant them leave to

Return to the soil.

Glass

Mosaic

Work of glass

Light plaited 

Candy apple red, 

Rose, rust, 

Amber, blue, 

Green, orange,

White, pink zig-zags 

Woven ribbons

Arrows shining 

Colors inside and out

November Rose

Winter bloom,

November rose,

Red and glowing in the sun.

Sing our hearts 

To the year's end

Cheer us on till spring comes.

Dancer in Red

Skirt of red
Flying,

Ballerina pirouettes 

On tiptoe

In a setting of blue
Violet and green,

Flower, leaf, 
Light

Sunset, 
River
Sky.

Far from Home

Sycamore leaf

Far flung from home

Alone now,

Without your kin,

Among strangers.

Free at last, you roam.

Caught, not by binding stem

To the home tree;

Caught in a new place

Low in the lowly grasses.

Sights are foreign.

Life is crowded still.

You fluttered before;

Fought furiously

Fought free; 

But you didn't know 

How to fly.

Come rest against 

The wall, the house, 

The garden gate

'Till you find family again.

Football Flower

Mums make me recall 

Cold nights and stadium lights

Lettered sweaters and 

Concession stand hot-dogs 

With Coco-Cola.

Mums remind me of homecoming,

Of scoreboards flashing

Home versus Visitors,

Of the Star-Spangled Banner

Sung by Betty Sue White

One look at a mum and

I see N.H.S. in silver glitter.

One look and I hear voices cheering

A runner down to the end zone.

Touchdown!

One look and I hear the band take up 

Its victory song, see them march

In black and red lines, 

Waving flags, beating drums, 

Piping flutes and trombones.

One look and I see cheerleaders, 

Pompoms and megaphones.

I see children climb,

Children play on the

Concrete steps of the bleachers. 

Mums make me feel

The autumn chill in the air.

Make me shiver. 

Mums take me back to those 

Glorious fall game nights

Grandma's Dolls

Now I am Grandma.

Starting into my sixty-first year,

I am still my Mama's child.

These pieces of simple life

Cornhusk dolls

One a bride in green,

One an angel in blue,

One a girl wearing a dress with puffed sleeves

Speak to my little girl inside

That I will never be too old

Never need give up play and joy,

Will always be Daddy's girl.

Kansas

Like a wheel 

Of one of many covered 

Wagons which

Once lined this old town's streets

Before bricks paved them

Before substantial buildings 

Took up residence and 

Stores opened

Along them

Snowfake 

Heralding Christmas

Snowflake

Never falling, never melting

Snowflake

Sparkling blue at night

Blue starburst

Snowflake

Above a dusty Kansas street

Holding up the bold blue

Sky.