Life Outside the Lines

In January of 2025, colourful calendars 

popped up in briefcases, 

on kitchen walls, 

on dining room tables, 

on wooden desk tops, 

on phones and tablets. 

Square spaces for dates and plans

marking our time, place and location

Appointments and extracurriculars

Little space was given to 

washing the floor, 

doing the laundry, 

wiping up the inevitable spills, 

broken crockery, 

naps in the lazy afternoons, 

all season walks in the park 

watching ants march across sidewalks

smelling the prairie roses, 

the worries of a sick child, 

trips to crowded emergency rooms, 

poring over bills and finances……………..

Years end gathers memories 

shuffles them, stacks them neatly 

in a higgledy piggledy order 

for stories told 'round a kitchen table 

for a laugh, or cry, or both in the same breath.

Happy New Year's Eve!

“We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us 

to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.”

~ H.G.Wells

The Magic Something

Intention blossoms

as in a fog ~

  I plan and resolve, 

    I set goals and plant ideas. 

Something is missing….

Looking around, 

  digging in drawers 

     and behind cupboard doors

to find the magic something 

for intention to be good and true, 

Enjoying the search,

  the organizing

     the imagining

the missing something

 is at my fingertips.

“Dance…enjoy each step along the way.”

~ Wayne Dyer

(1940~ 2015)

The Turn of Time

Given a day to muddle in, 

white cupboards faced me

closed against the world. 

How much history, 

secrets and plans hid 

behind the white doors?

the slender glass flute

used only on New Years Eve 

filled with bubbly ginger beer;  

the ancient baby plate 

with a large crack that 

belonged to my infant father; 

the gift of a clear glass vase 

waiting patiently for Christmas 

ornaments of last year

Surrounded by spices and butter,

cutlery, coffee mugs, plates and bowls ~ 

remnants of family history that 

disappear in the turn of time. 

“You can’t turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again.”

~ Bonnie Prudden, (1914 - 2011)

Physical Fitness pioneer and rock climber

The Season of 'Always'

Where is it?

 This day that has flown by, 

Christmas celebrations now past

til next year? 

Memories stored until 

they all meld together in 

the season of ‘always’?

It becomes a candle 

to shine in shadowed memory.

“ ‘Always’ is a good word to believe in.”

 Susan Abulhawa, Mornings in Jenin

Why It Matters

Why does it matter? 

A question seldom asked. 

Just follow the rules of the 

boss, society, culture, family…

To step back give an idea time 

  for thought, 

    for consideration,  

      to speak to the inside person 

who wants to be heard

It does matter!

  

 The special turn of phrase  

  

the manner of a hug. 

  the voice that speaks and laughs

    

is only yours.

“Never forget the essence of your spark!”

~ Taylor Swift

The Normal of Now

Riding waves of nostalgia 

seems never to end 

  tiring, 

    exhausting 

This metaphor of being 

   washed up on a beach 

   in this winter weather 

       is a tricky one ~

but it does feel 

   warm and gritty.

As the surf dies down, 

    life returns to the normal of now.

“The present moment is all you ever have. 

There is never a time when your life is not “this moment”.”

~ Eckart Tolle, The Power of Now:

A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

Abundance

Magnificent spread

Excellent home chefs

Wide ranging conversations

Four generations

A new friend

Gift exchange

‘Nuff said

“Let us keep Christmas beautiful without a thought of greed.”

~ Ann Garnett Schultz, poet

A Little Bird

A little bird 

told me a secret 

that everyone knows. 

That Christmas Eve

is a time to sit still 

at day’s end. 

To breathe deep 

of the silence 

and remember. 

Our memories, 

happy or sad, 

are perched 

around us as 

ornaments on our tree.

“Night, when words fade and things come alive.”

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery