Seasons

Each season has its own beauty...a picture which was 
never been seen before and shall never be seen again.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Last summer's brown periwinkle vines,

Late autumn's dried crape myrtle pods,

Leaves that fell from the spreading oak,

Tangle atop the snow together.

With the changing seasons God finds a way

To bless my heart with joy and delight,

To show me a shape, a shadow, a line,

Weaving shadows and light together.

Spring sprouts green and spongy bright

Summer is hot, slow, syrupy–mellow

Fall comes on cool, with apples and pumpkins;

Winter knits the whole year together.

Snow Rocker

Enjoy when you can and endure when you must.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Seems my summer rocking chair

Enjoys this frosty winter weather;

She takes on blasts of icy air,

Sleet and freezing rain together.

Along beside her rocking twin

She winters better than the rest

Because she's learned to work with wind,

Nestling safe on my porch, her nest.

Stoic through the long frigid night

When afternoon settles down to nap

She enjoys her soft blanket of white

Across her ample unshaken lap.

Pink Rose

Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.

 Unknown

As delicate as butterfly wings
As soft as baby's breath

As gentle as a summer breeze

 Scented sweet as clover

As light-filled as a fluff of cloud

That drifts across the sky

As generous as grandma's hand

Gentle as a springtime shower 

Dancer

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.

Helen Adams Keller

Twirl and spin—like a little girl with a new Sunday dress

A pink dress, ruffled, soft as taffeta over a white net petticoat

Dance, dance, dance, spin and twirl, swish and swirl;

Dream a tinkling music box song and yourself a lovely ballerina.

Glass and Shells

The world is so full of a number of things, 

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Sea shells from the ocean,

Pinecones from the tallest pine,

Gingko leaves dried and twirled

Into tiny golden roses,

 A colored stone from the lakeshore, 

Amethyst crystal from a cave;

 Treasures these are—extravagant 

Not costly.

A blue Jay's bright feather,

Dried pink zinnia from summer,

Twist of satin ribbon left behind by the holidays,

Don't be deceived!

 Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder 

So much as in his heart.

Blue Vase

Faith takes an umbrella when she prays for rain.

c.e.hollis

The shop door was propped open

A dreary day, and chilly,

I wandered in to see what pretty things 

I might find there.

Cases, racks, and shelves held treasures of all types

I chose a blue vase

A vase I had no flower to hold

A vase that reminded me soon

The winter with its leaden skies and cold winds, 

Snow and iced sidewalks would

Pass on and God would keep His promise

To Noah and his descendents

That spring would come

In its ordered time

Spring—followed by summer

With tulips, and daffodils, sprigs of lilacs, and roses 

To fill the blue vase

Running Horses

Their appearance is like horses, 

and like war horses, so they run.

Joel 2:4

Herd of young horses on a winter day, 

Run and play in the pasture

Like schoolboys

On the playground;

Chase and whinny, flip their tails and manes

Feel the wind, soak up the sunshine, 

Play tag and follow the leader, 

Run races,

Roll in the grass like children at recess,

Race when they hear feed poured into the trough,

Or a tractor at the gate with a fresh roll of hay,

Like children

Galloping when lunch is called.

Seems they love the sound of their hooves,

Like thunder,

Love the clamoring, pounding, 

Rollicking beat of them.

Two Blooms

Lord, I sing for joy at what you hands have made. 

Psalm 92:4

Red and pink what would you be

Without white and green?

Would we note you against more red or a field of pink?

Would we love you so much 

Without brown and gray?

You sing and shout—fearless, 

Happy, bright, joy!

Rose Bud

The lilies of the field whose bloom is brief;We are as they;

Like them we fade away As doth the leaf.

Christina Rossetti

Infant set to unfurl in youth

From there to full bloom. 

Bees buzz and seeds swell, 

Dry and fall.

Colors fade and petals droop 

With age—wither and wrinkle 

Dry and fragile as old skin.

Leaf and petals

Drop and the bloom is gone 

Seeds are all that's left behind

Blow away with the wind.

We see it everyday; 

Still we don't take it to heart.
Life seems robust and enduring yet 

Our days are numbered too,

And soon will pass.

Glittery Rose

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, 
but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.

Martin Luther

Someone added glitter to this rose;

I wonder at how silly we humans are!

To think we could improve on

Something so lovely as a rose,

Is like saying the sunset needs 

Better shades of red and violet,

The sky needs a different blue,

The ocean wetter waves.

Pralines

There is nothing quite as sweet as knowing you are loved.

c.e.hollis

Sweet, 

Sugary sweet!

Kitchen 
Smells
Like toasted pecans, 

Like Louisiana at Christmas,

Smells 
Like happy voices, 

Ummm-yum of family meals,

Smells
Like love and warm,
Smells

Like Grandma and a hug,

Like sweetest memories;

Smells 
Like happiness.
Like home.

Filly

All things bright and beautiful, 

all creatures great and small, 

All things wise and wonderful, 

the Lord God made them all. 

Cecil Frances Alexander

So small and fragile

The little girl munches hay,

But can't resist

Coming to the gate to be petted.

She leans toward our voices,

Listens for sounds she knows,

Sniffs our hands to see 

Whether we brought a treat, 

Watches our feet and

Shyly pretends 

Not to look at our faces.

Richly to Enjoy

Be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches,

 but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 

1 Timothy 6:17

Afternoon light glows on the table

Inside my kitchen

Where the fruitbowl waits to offer

Apples with names like Gala,

Jonagold and Pink Lady – Oranges 

That grew on trees beside the ocean and

Miniature mandarin oranges 

Were harvested, I think, by children's tiny soft hands

Across the world somewhere

Where soft warm wind blows.

What a sweet offering.

Sky at Evening

I avoid looking backward and forward 

and try to keep looking upward. 

Charlotte Bronte

Winter evening 

Clouds have formed 

Layers of cotton candy

Across the blue.

A snarl of tree branches 

Waves in the wind,
Like little sister's unruly hair
After she has run and played
Out in the wide world all day.

Breezes comb the tangles.

Leaning Tree

And this, our life... 
finds tongue in trees, 
books in the running brooks, 
sermons in stone...
William Shakespeare

Beside the creek– 
Water low within its boundaries,

Frozen in its slow places,

Banks edged in white;

An old tree leans out tentatively

Trying to bridge the icy water,

Touch the stream it shaded
 Last summer

Next year 
It will be firewood

Stacked neatly in the barn

And along the back porch

To warm us for another

Season to come.

Apples on a White Dish

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must

first invent the universe.

Carl Sagan

Red on white, 

Like cardinals against snow,

Apples on a white dish

Shine under green collars 

 And bright halos of sunlight.

So good of God to make 

Such mundane things as fruit

So beautiful to our eyes.

What if all apples were brown

to their cores? 

Orchid in Green

Just when we are certain we have seen everything wonderful 

in the world, God surprises us.

c.e.hollis

Symmetry and design

Too complicated not to have been planned

Constructed by an artist architect;

The orchid on my tabletop

Peeks at me in the afternoon light,

Whispers to me that there is a creator

That he is a person who loves 

Light and hope, 

 Gentleness and strength,

Beauty and truth, 

And especially loves you and me.