The Heart of A Tree

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)

'Til the New Day Dawns

Slow down when the noise 

of the world is too big 

Slow down when your heart 

races down into your feet. 

Slow down and breathe 

calm into your toes. 

Breathe deeply, calmly 

to ease into late evening. 

Close your eyes and sleep 

'til the new day dawns.

“Wise and slowly; they stumble that run fast.”

~ Hugh Howey, Wool Omnibus

To Rest and Breathe

 

Teeny tiny steps,

when exhaustion flags the day

gets a few jobs done, 

but first to rest and breathe.

“When in doubt just take the next small step.”

~ Paul Coelho, lyricist

To Breathe and Bloom

Give it some space

The impulse

The longing

The wish or the dream

Give it some space

To breathe

To become real

To feel it bloom

Give it some space

The impulse

The longing

The wish or the dream.

“Create the space and a bigger life happens.”

~ Alysia Reiner, actress

Breathe

Patience is a lovely practice. 

It lets me breathe. 

See and hear life around me. 

Quiets all the busy thinking 

of the chattering should’s 

and shouldn’t have’s 

rolling through

my mind while I wait for 

anything, something, everything.

It let’s me breathe in life around me;

hear all the life around me.

Patience is a lovely practice.

“Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen 

in a different order than the one you have in your mind.”

~ David G. Allen, author

Imperfect Reality

Slipping and sliding through 

imagined darkness, shadowed 

tendrils threaten to pull 

crumbled shards onto my life.

Stepping out of that 

imagined darkness 

to an imperfect reality 

lets me breathe easily.

“When you realize there is nothing lacking, 

the whole world belongs to you.”

~ Lao Tzu

Muscles and Bones Included

Muscles and bones are included 

when we arrive on this earth. 

Muscles weak in their youth, 

bones malleable and calcify as we grow. 

Our job is to 

work our muscles

in concert with 

our skeletons to allow us 

to breathe

to walk, 

to run, 

to dance, 

to smile

to hold a cup of tea

to hop, skip and jump

to carry our books to and from school, 

to play hop scotch or kick the can, 

to eat or drink when its time

to skate 

to lift weights, or knead bread, 

to crochet

to do fine needle work

and anything else we even try to do

to curl up and sleep, stretching, tossing and turning. 

We work them with each waking minute 

~ so much so that they are just there. 

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

~ Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author

(1930 ~ 2009)

A Morning Hymn

I like Sundays.

In old memories. 

attitudes shifted for 

that Sunday moment. 

A feeling of more 

air to breathe. 

I’ve not been 

in a church

for many years, 

but the silence is 

a morning hymn.

I like Sundays.

“In the midst of the storm, your life boat appears. A psalm, 

a hymn, a word…calming the fiercest winds of the soul.”

~ Roderick l. Evans, author

Then it is Time

Relax and breathe ~

  

  when your heart is crying, 

  when the world is too heavy, 

  when the wind is too wild

~ it seems impossible. 

It is the only solution 

  

  when we know that 

  we are no bigger 

  than the air in our lungs

~ then it is time to 

breathe deeply and relax.

“Your breath is your best friend.”

~ Professor Ramchandra Gandhi,

Philosopher and teacher