Purple and bright
the ornamental plum trees
release them to the sidewalk
unless a bird or squirrel
samples nature’s wares.
As I walk I am graced
above and below
with the offerings.
Not always pleased by
those little purple plums
on the sidewalk, squished
by the many passers by,
I can’t avoid contributing to
the purple nubbly carpet.
“I think of trees and how simply they let go.”
~ May Sarton,
novelist, poet and memoirist
(1912 ~ 1995)
Dedication to anything is
as a bird in flight
muscles and mind
working in harmony
to get to the nest,
to forage for wants and needs
flying through
rain clouds,
open air,
against hostile winds.
At the end of the day
to rest and sleep
readying for
the next day’s flight.
“Our self-acknowledgement has to be bigger than our fear.”
~ Rod Stryker, author
It was still early evening
the sky clear and blue
a robin landed high in the tree
hopped branch to branch
settling in the centre of the tree.
Trying to hurry and be still
I willed this bird of spring
to sit still while branches waved.
Birds, animals and little children
do not settle in one spot too long
so regardless of fading light
I clicked the button on my phone,
His red breast, hidden in the poor light
only showed off in black and white.
“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.”
~ Elliot Erwitt, documentary photographer
(1928 ~ 2023)
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
The pink flamingo stands
forever frozen in porcelain
The beautiful bird has graced
many a shelf since coming into
my home in 1988, not aging a day.
even though now a senior citizen
In and out of boxes, she travelled with
me from Texas to British Columbia,
and finally to Saskatchewan.
Only the lily lost a tiny chip.
Because she doesn’t get to
any ponds or lakes to clean
and splash, it falls to me
to keep her plumage bright.
“She is pure Alice in Wonderland, and her appearance and demeanour
a nicely judged mix of the Red Queen and A Flamingo.”
~ Truman Capote
In a moment
while I stood quietly, a bird perched on my shoulder.
Not bird of feather and beak,
but the bird that whispers
of moon rays, stars; sunshine and puffy white clouds.
In a moment while I danced
across a crowded room,
the music showed me how
to move gracefully with others
Always respectful of personal space
So relationships build with care and attention.
In a moment while I stood quietly
a bird perched on my shoulder.
“You must collect moments. These will be the true wealth of your soul.”
~ Liviu C. Tudose, author of romance, fantasy and young adult novels
Always the bravest of flowers,
standing tall midst cheerful daisies, precious buttercups, colourful wildflowers and creeping vines, sunflowers show their joyful faces to the world. They welcome birds and bees to their bountiful centres and when the sun dries their petals and the wind brushes them to burnished curls, their joy is not diminished but made brighter.
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot
see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.”
~ Helen Keller
Looking to the skies,
to the clouds
where the imagination flies ~
I thought it was a bird,
until the glint of sun on wings
as it tipped into a turn.
“The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.”
~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau
