Each day offers a newness
that wasn’t there yesterday
for each day is special and precious.
Today it was the
beauty and bounty of autumn.
Messy and unkempt but
banquets for birds, bugs and bees.
My pull to tidy things up
flew away with the wind.
The untidy arrangements
that autumn brings to be left to
the natural world and homeowners.
“The bounty of nature is too little for the greedy person.”
~ Seneca the Younger, Stoic philosopher
Born: 4 BC; Died AD 65 (aged 67 - 68)
What attracted my glance?
The bright red against the green?
The sunlit leaves in this early autumn?
No matter.
The beauty all around in the details,
the finesse of nature’s wand
stops me for the moment
to I take it in.
On any day we pass by
the details with barely a glance.
It may be the clouds in the sky or
the woman sitting hunched on a corner.
Yes, it is hard to see the beauty
in those scenes unless we look and understand.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.
Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
~ Marie Curie, scientist
As autumn settles in
wasps are sluggish
yet still annoying;
fruit flies still hover
and are yet to feel
the cool of autumn,
playgrounds are quieter
as schools absorb our children,
golden leaves drift from elms,
yet to fill the corners and curbs
The air breathes sweater cool.
Calendar dictum remains in summer,
autumn equinox only days away
These cool days prepare the world
for the beauty of real autumn.
“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”
~ Oscar Wilde
What did I notice today?
In the heat
my time short
I didn’t pause,
but on the way back
I noticed it again ~
The heart shaped tree stump.
A tree cut almost down to the ground.
To count the fading rings ~ impossible
It showed me
the inner beauty of trees,
their hearts,
the wood, leaves and shade
we take so much for granted
lives, grows and breathes.
“A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life;
like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential.
Life on earth is inconceivable without trees.”
~ Anton Chekhov,
playwright, short story writer
(1860 - 1904)
By the sidewalk,
tucked in and beautiful
a clutch of white lilies bloom.
“Faith is like a lily, lifted high and white.”
~ Christina Rossetti, poet
(1830 ~ 1894)
Options tested for
here and there,
why and why not,
for maybe and for sure
take up too much space
in a muddled head,
while ordinary tasks
get done. People say
‘you think too much’
and maybe so but I want
the goshawks and sparrows,
the robins and meadow larks
to know that their beauty is
part of life that lifts
‘too much thinking’ to the skies of
possibility for each tomorrow.
“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
~ Lewis Carroll
A good morning
That’s what I call it
The sun is up
Even if it’s behind thunder clouds
Even if it is pouring rain
As long as I’m awake and
putting my feet on the floor
it is a good day
there may be
tears,
frustrations,
interruptions
but they may be mixed with
smiles,
sunshine,
contentment and
the beauty of trees,
grass and flowers;
the kindness the community
as I go about my day.
If I believe
that all of the good
is coloured grey,
I will miss so much!
and so I wish you
A Good Evening!
“A day is a day. It’s just a measurement of time. Whether it’s a good day
or a bad day is up to you. It’s all a matter of perception.”
~ Donald L. Hicks, Look into the Stillness
Eyes wide open to each day
a strange second chance
to do what?
Do all the same routine things
as the day before.
Or is the second chance
a gift to see beauty,
to hear life’s rhythms,
to feel from the tips of toes
to the top of the head,
to be aware once again
that this day is ours to shape.
“We’re given second chances every day of our life.
We don’t usually take them but they’re there for the taking.”
~ Andrew M. Greeley
(1928 ~ 2013)
Branches grey and bare
Is there no life?
bright pink amid green,
~ tiny pink flowers
opening for spring
gathers nourishment
before unfurling
delicate beauty.
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”
~ Lady Bird Johnson
