On the Rise

August 2024

Over a year ago, I began

a sourdough starter ~

bubbly and full of life. 

Flattened and lazy,

On the watch for 

mould or a flat taste. 

no mould appeared

taste is sharp and sour! 

What was I doing wrong? 

Too long in the cold

fed once a week! 

No reason to bubble.

    ~~~~~~~

So it is with spirit

Excitement in life 

shrinks in the cold

flattens without life 

stirred and kept warm, 

danced and out of breath

What excites me?

ideas that beg for the written word

story that stirs my soul to laughter or tears

music to tap my toes and sway my hips 

What excites your heart and mind?

“For here I hope begins our lasting joy.”

~ William Shakepeare

(Re: Sourdough restoration: I’m keeping it on the cupboard and feeding it once a day for a while until it’s back to it’s bubbly self. Maybe a week? In this cold weather, I’m not going far from home.A metaphor for life - it I keep my life in the cold)

Found in the Clutter

 

“A diagnosis is important 

but it is not a person……..”

Exciting words scribbled

on a note left midst clutter

 ~ an anchor in my life. 

Diagnoses tucked neatly 

into a fold of my brain, 

while my vertebrae curve

And life goes on whether 

or not I fret and worry…

gratitude keeps me upright and calm

“[A] person is so much more than the name of a diagnosis on a chart.”

 ~ SharonM. Draper, educator

Lost til Tomorrow

frayed sentences drift

a word ~ maybe two

for something I’ll write later 

vanished in pumpkin soup 

bubbling on the stove, 

in the flour and nuts for 

bread dough rising; 

in the brutal wind, 

on my way to take out the trash

scribbled down on a note 

lost on the kitchen table.

I’ll clear off the table tomorrow………

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. 

Learn from it…tomorrow is a new day.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson