Prairie Flowers

 

In late afternoon 

summer heat 

tough prairie flowers 

cheered my walk.

“Flowers are for our souls to enjoy.”

~ Sioux proverb

Strong Winds

The chaos in and around 

  city 

   town or 

     country 

like strong prairie winds 

 that push aside 

  all the growing things 

   uprooting some, but 

have no purchase on roots 

  reaching deep,

   growing strong 

     to nourish us tomorrow.

“Chaos is the score upon which reality is written”

~ Henry Miller, writer

All of Life

All of life is 

   to prepare

     to anticipate 

without sitting on the edge 

but being aware 

that life could be ruled 

by others 

  ~ people or situations ~ 

a naive thought, 

   yet one that offers

 strength and courage to choose the life that is given. 

Today will shape tomorrow, 

  and leave an interesting path 

through the yesterdays of life.

“We may run, walk, stumble, drive or fly, but let us never lose sight 

of the reason of the journey or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way.”

~ Gloria Gaither, songwriter

Into the Green Grass

When I let my thoughts

roam free

some wander into tomorrow 

~ into the green grass 

of a nebulous future,

feeling my mind’s toes curling

into that distant moist wet grass 

with a longing 

that pulls me away from today.

“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful 

as the dreams that dance in your imagination.”

~ Roman Payne, novelist and poet

Believe in Yourself

Emotions will never reach tomorrow 

~ too fluid unless we hang on

The dips and the dives of 

those slippery ‘feels’ change 

with the tides of each day

The tides of tomorrow will be different

maybe calm or steady or wild 

so belief in yourself and 

the life that you live is 

the rudder that steers you through life.

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

~ Arthur Ashe

Rhythm

Rhythm 

Began with slow waking

Picked up through the morning

discussion danced back and forth 

over lunch and lemon spiked waters

Afternoon slow and easy 

picking up stray tasks 

chatting with neighbours 

’til quiet underlined by 

music and hum of the dishwasher

softened today's rhythm

“There is music wherever there is rhythm, 

as there is life wherever there beats a pulse.”

~ Igor Stravinsky

Once a Tomorrow

A wide open door 

birds fill the trees 

with chirps and song

a dog barks in the neighbourhood

a car shushes past 

Fernando plays on the radio 

backed by gentle strum of a lute 

the aroma of barbecue drifts

trees wave in the wind 

clouds ride high and thin ~

today was once a 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, essayist

(1803 ~1882)

The Quest

I’m not getting anywhere 

   on this quest to 

find the words. 

Words that sing, 

  that have meaning, 

    that wake me up. 

They lie dormant 

in their little beds 

only wanting to rest.

So I will acquiesce and let them be 

~ after I have finished this poem 

and said good night.

“Of your unspoken words you are the master; 

of your spoken word the servant; 

and of your written word the slave.”

~ Quaker proverb

A Whisper of Hope

 

Tomorrow is a day 

I will never have to remember 

for when the stars welcome it

with that gossamer shift 

from tomorrow to today, there is 

a whisper of hope for the future.

“If you’ve got a today, don’t wear it tomorrow. 

Tomorrow never happens it’s all the same day.”

~ Janis Joplin, singer

(1943 - 1970)

Patience and a Drink of Water

Two Leaves

A sweet potato - or was it a yam sat on my kitchen counter patiently waiting it’s turn for…..it sprouted. Three long sprouts standing at attention and, I’m sure, staring at me. I finally cut out the potato, planted it in a pot, in soil….some time in April. I was ready to throw it out but each day decided to give it one more day. Two weeks ago I saw a tiny green shoot that opened into a real leaf. I set the pot outside to get the sun and the shade and some good rain water. In the last two days, in two very hot days, two more leaves have sprouted. The new little one is so tiny it is easy to miss, but by tomorrow I expect to see another full leaf. Sweet potato plants are really quite lovely.

Three Leaves: look closely!

“Why is patience so important?”

“Because it makes us pay attention.”

~ Paul Coelho, author

Why We Stretch and Yawn in the Morning

Tomorrow’s work is full

 of dreams, 

  of plans, 

    of goals

no form until the new day dawns, 

curling quiet at our feet while 

heads still rest on pillows, it 

waits to be fed with new energy.

“Each day is always breaking out anew.

Aspirations swirling round what you do.”

~ Richard L. Ratliff, poet