Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Delightful December


Last night the snow fell.

Scampering around like a family of frantic field mice,
we pulled shovels from the back of the shed,
removed forgotten items from the yard
and added twenty minutes extra to
tomorrow's travel plans 
to deal with the
"weather."


After everything was done,
I stayed to watch the snow coat the branches of the trees
until they were as beautiful as a freshly iced cake.


The plunging temperatures caused some
to pull up the collars of their coats
and stamp an annoyed dance
onto the icy ground with their heavy boots.


I chose to watch
the golden light spill from the windows
of the houses onto our street.


It looked so cozy;
all these families gathered for a hot evening meal,
while their humming furnaces
sent soft plumes of smoke
into the darkening sky.


This frozen, wet stuff...
It's just rain, really.
Is it more annoying
because it's going to stick and stay?


Surely snowflakes
are a form of enchantment;
falling, frozen stars,
light as air,
each one sculpted, unique, miraculous.


They gather here and there
with an artist's flourish
and make something new from what was old.


Or, they melt and freeze again,
allowing us glimpses into other worlds
that only winter can help us find.

Whichever way you choose
to view it,


I welcome the snow
and all its wonder.




Saturday, November 12, 2016

Love Trumps Hate




Oh Donald Trump.

I was in shock, like much of the world, to discover that he won the election. I mean how in the name of all that is good, sane, decent, civilized, honest, intelligent and human did this happen? Especially at a time when our floating blue and green planet needs our care and protection the most.





Fortunately or unfortunately (depends how you look at it) I was in an unusual situation when I heard the election results.


I was hooked up to several monitors in the intensive cardiac care unit in one of our city’s most wonderful hospitals while doctors searched to find the source for the “heart attack” I appeared to have suffered last Saturday night.

Yes, this was before the election results
so I can’t blame Donald for that!




Luckily, strangely (just like life) the enzymes in the blood test that declared with almost certainty that my heart had suffered a traumatic event and been injured were proved wrong by the best tests science has to offer.

Five days later, on a sunny Wednesday afternoon
I walked out of the hospital, heart-healthy and free!




The first thing that struck me, waiting outside to be picked up by my children, was how blue the sky was. A crisp November breeze rushed up to fill my lungs and the setting sun caressed my cheek with a mother’s love.

This world is so beautiful.





I wanted to skip, jump, sing, dance.

I was healthy!
I was home.
I was loved.




My husband never left my side in the hospital (sleeping the first 2 days in a chair, and the rest in a cot) and my children spoiled me each day with their time, homemade meals, fresh clothes, board games and stories.


My epiphany: Donald Trump’s win changes nothing.

The world existed before him and the world will exist after him
because there are billions of people who know and cherish
what really matters...

* LOVE *

Family, friends, health, home, nature, the sun, moon and sky.




At home, looking out my kitchen window, it felt like I’d never left, never been terrified for my heart, my life. I watched the giant yellow maple in our backyard shower the ground with its sunshine-yellow leaves…




With everything that had just happened to me I followed the urge to be there, right under it, head turned up to watch the leaves
dance through the air on their way to the ground,
to be part of that beauty.




We are surrounded by magic…every day.






Donald Trump can’t ruin that.

I, and billions of others, won’t let him.

And whatever he does ruin, we will fix.




Continue to believe in magic and magic will continue to exist.


Wednesday, August 31, 2016

You Had Me At Hello




Summer...
You had me at hello

You swept me up in your intensity


And the crazy-hatted party goers
you brought to my garden


You arrived dressed in eye-popping colours


Against a backdrop of glorious greens


With the summer comes the sun
And with the sun comes the heat


June, July and August whizzed by
in a colourful, shimmering mirage


Trumpets blared sweet summer's song
filling my senses with their heady perfume


While the fish grew fat and happy
in the pond


So many moments to enjoy


So much beauty to drink in


Some scenes almost too beautiful to believe


That this is reality and not just a dream


In my garden, summer has been gentle,


Fluttery


Feminine


Fringed


Filled with colourful hues,


Stately colour shapes


And bold colour wows!



Autumn is on its way
and when I look back


This will have been a Summer
I will never forget!

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Softly Into Spring


Spring calls softly from the darkness
She bathes the land in light


To lure us from our slumber
At the end of Winter's night


It's in the whisper of the wind
Her perfume scents the air


Colours appear overnight
Full of dash and dare


Hot and cold play hide and seek
In league with sun and shade


The flowers carry on as planned
Their costumes have been made


Leaves unfurl and petals twirl
Birds trill their serenade


No one can resist the lure
Of a Spring parade


What started as a whisper
Soon becomes a roar


The flowers dance, the music plays
A Spring song I adore.






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