Monday, September 30, 2013

Amen to Summer

The Amen of nature is always a flower.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

 At the end of summer
A flower,
As at the end of a sentence
A period,
At the end of each season
 A sigh,
A pause for breath
A comma,
At the end of a crisis
A cry,
As at the end of a journey
A new beginning,
At the end of life
A farewell,
At the close of a prayer
An amen.
At the end of summer
A flower.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

The Green

Nature will bear the closest inspection. 
She invites to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf,
 and take an insect view of its plain.
Henry David Thoreau

Sunlight 
On your green paper
Folded origami shapes
Each perfect
Each precise 
Each formed by the voice 
And breath of God
Symmetric each barely
Discernible from its fellow
Hundreds on a tree
Dozens along each twig
Each color mixed to the exact 
Tone of green
No earthly artist could replicate
 Such work, so faultless, so unerring
So perfect
So precise
So amazing!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Yellow rose

Smile, because life's a beautiful thing
 and there's so much to smile about.
Marilyn Monroe

Lemon on lime
Ruffled masterpiece 
Seen on a lazy daisy late 
Summer afternoon

Like a perfect rhyme,
Softer than a lambkin's fleece.
Lean against the garden gate
Whistle up a sunny tune.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Vase

Where we love is home-
home that our feet may leave, 
but not our hearts.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Soft morning light falls
Across my table
Homely, homemade, homespun, 
homegrown,  
Home sweet home
Filled with things I love:
Wicker baskets,
Old vases, wood, cloth,
Books, babies, 
Fleeting flowers, plaids.
Light sweetens simple 
Everyday things.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Oranges

For by Him were all things created, 
that are in heaven,
 and that are in earth, 
both visible and invisible...
Colossians 1:16 

Pottery bowl came from the soil
As sure as oranges picked from trees
Came from the earth
All we use, or eat, or know
Comes from God's creation 
An old earth—full of water,
Chemicals, and minerals 
Made those first six days
Recycled, reused, reformed, 
Rendered new, 
Endowed with agelessness,
Given to us again 
Fresh from God's hands
Imbued with new life. 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Skipper

Happiness is a butterfly...which if you sit down quietly
 may alight on you.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

Skipper,
Little gray cousin of the monarch
Why so small—so dull?
How did you come to be so plain
So everyday—so dirty dishwater?
Where's your color?
Your pizazz?
God didn't care?
He didn't see 
You needed to be 
Bright orange 
Viridian green 
Cobalt blue 
Banana yellow?
Trust Him 
He had His reasons
And I think you are cute.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Cock's Comb

All nature sings and 'round us rings the music of the spheres
Maltie D. Babcock

Unique as the coral thriving on a reef,
Colorful as tropical birds of the jungle,
Bright as flames of fire,
Soft as the fibers of a baby's first blanket,
Sweet as maple syrup cooked from sap.
The complexity of a simple flower
A single green leaf
Is proof beyond question that
Earth has an amazing wonderful creator!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Pink Rose Bud

God writes in trees, flowers, clouds, and stars.

Little bit of color
Just a smidge—a drip
From one of 
God's paintbrushes!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Soul Food

For every beast of the forest is mine, 
and the cattle on a thousand hills. 
I know all the fowls of the mountains; 
and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
Psalm 50:10–11




In the falling light of evening
Cows graze
Through the golden light
A carpet of grass 
Lush and nutritious
Provision from God's hand
The scene is food too
Food for my soul.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Sunshine

Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. 
Job 37 :14b

Sunshine swirled with blood
Light and life in one bloom
Inside your green wrap
Inside your yellow skin
Your tapered bud
You were so small and tight 
Then you curled open one day
Graceful without even a struggle
Showing on your face—you
Swirled open and smiled at the world.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Clouds Searching

"If the sight of blue skies fills you with joy, 
if a blade of grass springing up
 in the fields has power to move you,
if the simple things of nature have a message
 that you understand, rejoice, 
for your soul is alive."
 Eleonora Duse

Clouds scud across the blue
Building into the cold of the sky
 As if searching for rain
Searching for cool weather to come
Searching for autumn and pumpkins,
Apples and pecans
Searching for October days
For November nights
Searching for winter.


Thursday, September 19, 2013

Wow!

"The secret of contentment is knowing
how to enjoy what you have."


Splash! 
Bright color on the dusty green
Of summer's dog days,
Mums make their fall debut
Hitting the scene
With flair and high style
Splash! Like fireworks 
Exploding against the green!
Splash!
Pow! Ping! Pow! 
Wow!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Purple Star

"If you ignore beauty, 
you will soon find yourself without it. 
But if you invest in beauty 
it will remain with you
 all the days of your life." 
Frank Lloyd Wright

Mystery flower
Purple star
Veined with deep violet
It's your time to bloom
Bloom all morning
Call the honeybees to feast 
Bloom all afternoon
Call the hummingbirds for tea 
Bloom all evening
Life will be short
Too short— bloom
Bloom all day
Bloom your heart out
Dare me to sing.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Gift

"A fistful of dandelions proffered by a child holds 
more delight than any floral shop bouquet."
C.E.Hollis

Expressions of love
From a child's hands
Are greater treasures than jewels
More beautiful than gold 
Worth more than diamonds
Sweeter than chocolates 
Sweeter than candies
Sweet enough to make me smile
A smile that lingers—lingers long.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Garden Fruit


 "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
 gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, faith...."
Galatians 5:22-23

 Bowl of tomatoes
 Washed and waiting
 Fresh and still warm from the garden
 I can't taste you
 I must admire you first for a while
 Your color so true and bright
 Your shiny smooth skin
 Your soft sweetness
 With the flavor of the earth 
 And sunlight inside

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Mums

"There is almost nothing as jubilant as a crowd of chrysanthemums."
C.E. Hollis

Like happy faces in the bleachers
Faces bright—ready waiting for the game
Waiting for the players to run out onto the field
The anthem to be sung
Waiting for the excitement to begin 
Under the stadium lights 
One fall Friday evening;
Yellow chrysanthemums stand on tiptoes
Straining stretching toward the sound.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Promises

"Remember the day's blessings, 
forget the day's troubles."
Unknown

Green buds primed to 
Unfurl into purpley-blue glories
Dancing in the morning light
Waiting for the kiss of sunrise 
For your day to bloom,
To smile up at God, 
To catch dew drops,
To swish your blue skirt in the breeze
Short—it will be—
Short and glorious
Your chance to praise Him 
With your trumpet of blue 
To sing from your throat of rosy red

Friday, September 13, 2013

Slice of Life

"You crown the year with your goodness."
Psalm 65:11

Green and red, red and green
What happy-go-lucky 
Shades of life
What bright and merry colors
Red and green, green and red
Happy colors and sweet!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Summer's Goodbye

"While the earth remains, seedtime
 and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, 
day and night shall not cease."
Genesis 8:22

Yellow 
Is the color of late summer;
As it morphs from yellow to brown
By way of oranges and reds.
Autumn comes for a few short days,
Finds itself in the transition to cold
With the year's sunniest lightest color:  
Yellow Coreopsis, yellow Sunflowers,
Yellow Gum Plant, yellow Bitterweed
Goldenweed, yellow Sneezeweed, 
Golden Asters, yellow Tickweed.
Cut-leaved Daisies, yellow Gaillardia, 
Oklahoma yellow kissing summer
Goodbye with a tear
Greeting autumn with a happy sigh.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Fallen on Green

"Beauty is the shadow of God on the universe."
Gabriela Mistral

Like a shard 
Fallen from one of the orange-red planets
Fallen from the hot sky
Fallen on a weary summer day
This tiny piece of heaven is
Fallen—fragile yet unbroken
Fallen onto the green leaves and grass 
Fallen softly, slipped from God's hand
Like a painted china cup

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Dancer in White

"Flowers are music for the soul."
***
She lifts her pale face
To the clear sky—to the heat
She bows and glows on

Monday, September 9, 2013

In Living Colors

"Beauty puts a face on God."
Margaret Brownley

Reminds me this
Of crayons in their paper sleeves
Coloring up bright memories
With names like aqua green and periwinkle blue,
Swiss cheese, cinnamon apple, and desert brown,
Maple leaf red, bubblegum pink, peachy keen.
Names like apricot dreamsicle, lemon lilt, 
Cherry red, dusty pink, dogwood petal white
Names that tickled me inside—berry blueberry blue 
And made me dream in living colors.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

I Love You

"Love is a great thing, a great good in every way; 
it alone lightens what is heavy and leads smoothly
 over all roughness."
 Thomas A. Kempis

I have a secret;
What do you think it is?
I have a secret;
Try to guess.
I have a secret;
Tell me if you know.
Do you know...
I love you!

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Chandelier

How wonderful, O Lord, are the works of Your hands!

Sparkle and glimmer
Bright, pretty shimmer 
Made to impress
Beautiful ? Yes,
But not to compare to 
The afternoon sun 
Filtering through leaves 
Fluttering in a breeze
Nothing beside the
Moonlight on water or 
Stars sprinkled across 
The night sky. 


Friday, September 6, 2013

Light

"The sun is...warmth-giving and happiness-giving...."
Jessi Lane Adams

Sunlight streams across the floor
Searching emptiness 
For shadows to dispel. Come.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Impossible Bumblebees


"We have a God who delights in impossibilities."
Andrew Murray

Hummingbirds and bumblebees,
Sweet scented lilacs and Sequoia trees,
Desert cactus on the burning sand,
The tiny fingers of an infant's hand.

 For every minute—every day
Miracles bloom in vast array!
From an eagle soaring across the sky
To the lenses in the human eye.

Your troubles come and smother you
You worry—don't know what to do
Remember then, you doubting man, 
What's "can't" to you—to Him is "can."


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A Little Thing


"Enjoy the little things. 
One day you may look back 
and realize they were the big things."

Walking with my grandbaby
This morning, I plucked apples from 
Scraggly trees in the orchard,
Held her high so she could pull some.
We loaded a basket and carried them inside.
We washed the red and green pomes,
Laying them to dry on a white dish towel.
Picking apples with grandma 
May one day be a memory she delights in;
A little thing that became
One of the big things.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Dividend


"Good heavens, of what uncostly material
 is our earthly happiness composed... if we only knew it. 
What incomes have we not had from a flower, 
and how unfailing are the dividends of the seasons."
James Russell Lowell 

Giant rolls of hay 
Line the barnyards and pastures
Holding promise of plenty for winter
Golden brown grass with 
Water and green pulled out
Waiting to be dinner to 
Herds of hungry horses
Cows carrying calves
Who will greet the world 
Early one chilly morning.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Hope

"We are made to reach out beyond our grasp." 
Oswald Chambers

Suncatchers
Soaking up excess sunlight 
Saving it for fall days when 
Dawn arrives later and 
Evening falls earlier
Skies are gray
Needing a torch of light
To ready them for winter.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Circle of Time

Wagon wheel, you once went to town
Now you stand to guard the gate.
Wheel, I wonder where you've been and when?

Did you carry fruit from orchard to market;
Did you carry children to their country school?
Are you sad when you remember then?

Did you roll to the churchyard Sundays,
Carry a family to homestead out west?
You've turned to fencing—never again to spin.

You are still a part of the farm now,
Guarding the pastured stock, connecting
Yesterday to tomorrow—like an old and cherished friend.