Without Definition

Trust is without definition. 

It is the colour of water 

   in its vastness, 

iron grey ~

  troubled by rain clouds or 

clear blue ~ reflecting 

   sun and moving cloud, 

shades of green ~

   at the shoreline where trees 

  bend to caress the water,

~ or capped by lacy froth 

       on a windy day.

Our only definition grows 

  from the details of our lives

lessons from those we grew up with until 

  our own definition blossoms 

a definition that is confident and sure.

But trust remains without definition and 

  yet with a form we feel in our gut.

“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. 

When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, 

because if you do you will sink and drown. 

Instead you relax, and float.”

~ Alan Wilson Watts, British philosopher

(1915 - 1973)

When We Look

Recalling each moment past

is no easier than stopping 

the flow of water whether 

 river, lake or ocean with

trees lining their banks 

  dipping their branches low 

shelters for birds and 

   our memories

Watching clouds in the sky 

 ~ moving vessels of memory 

 golden at sunset 

    or red at sunrise

   clouds of white puffs, 

  storm clouds filled 

    with thunder and lightning

Recalling each yesterday when we look.

“Memory is not frozen it’s very much alive, it moves, it changes.”

~ Louis Malle, film director

(1932~ 1995)

Always in the Middle

Everything went sideways ~ 

that’s what happened one 

yesterday, or maybe more, 

those sideways days ~ just 

cracks in days planned to flow gentle as a summer river 

interrupted by a summer storm. What are sideways things? In the middle: 

dropping a glass container

      that shatters!

or spilling a dish of water 

(the floor needed washing anyway)

or the dreaded hairballs that must be cleaned up1

There are many little everythings like that 

outside the order of the day’s plan. 

Words coloured violent blue assault the air.

’til everything’s righted with brooms, rags and lysol.

“Anything and everything you can think of can turn your life around.”

~ Nik Halik, astronaut, entrepreneur

Relief on a Spring Day

Glistening ice on 

curbs and sidewalks

crumbling snow against 

curbs…..and sidewalks 

run off crossing corners

drains hidden beneath ice pack

sun warm and bright ~

relief on a spring day.

“Spring is far more than just a changing 

of seasons; it’s a rebirth of the spirit”

~ Toni Sorenson, author

We Are the River

Rivers flow swiftly 

Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, Canada

from the dawn of time, 

carving channels 

across the earth’s crust, 

nourishing life within 

and along their banks 

joining with each other

ignorant of man’s boundaries 

’til they reach other great rivers 

all to become one with the timeless sea.

Potomac River, Maryland, U.S.A.

“A river seems a magic thing. A magic, 

moving, living part of the very earth itself.”

~ Laura Gilpin, photographer, poet

(1891 - 1979)

The Artist

 

It was only the colours 

out of place 

that my eye saw, 

my consciousness recognized. 

But how? 

I laughed at the old sun

using the fountain’s spray 

to sketch a tiny rainbow

of colour on the water.

“…..just happy little accidents.”

~ Bob Ross, artist

Book Review: Breathing Underwater by Abbey Lee Nash

Nature walks were not exactly what 17 year old Tess wanted to do. She wanted to win at the National Swim Competition and go on to University on an athletic scholarship. Her swimming had been her life since she was a child. Every summer she was lifeguard at the local pool. She and her best friend Mac looked forward to a great summer and their swim competition. Tess, Mac and another friend Rachel were on same swim team. 

Their summer came to abrupt and very frightening halt at their swim practice. Tess had a seizure in the water and if Rachel hadn’t kept her friend’s head up, Tess would have drowned. Tess does’t remember any of that, only waking up in the hospital to a doctor telling her she probably had epilepsy. There had been no warnings that anything could have been wrong. All she could think about was the Nationals and her scholarship. She wanted to just shake it off and get back in the pool where she could feel the water and her strength. After an appointment with a neurologist, her driver’s license was held and she was told to only swim with certain restrictions. Restrictions that would point out to everyone that something was wrong with her:  A pink bathing cap, swimming on the outside lane that was usually reserved for the slowest swimmers, and a second lifeguard to make sure she was safe. She thought all of it was ridiculous, bent to everyone’s will. Instead of lifeguarding she had to work at the Sugar Shack snack bar. Her parents were of two minds. Her father, a retired football coach just wanted her to get back to training for the Nationals, her mother wanted her daughter to be careful and listen to the doctors. That is until she had a second seizure after going out jogging on her own one morning. That’s when reality was made clear to all of them.

The only benefit was the replacement lifeguard at the pool. Charlie was tall, unruly black hair, with soft green eyes and so good looking. But Tess tried to avoid him at first. But Charlie made sure that she didn’t. They struck up a friendship. Turns out he was also very kind even once he knew about this new diagnosis. He didn’t like the usual parties, went jogging early in the morning and loved pancakes. 

This book is an easy read and is written for the Young Adult readers. Abby Lee Nash was painted a charming and frightening picture of Tess’s life struggling with this life changing diagnosis, the doctor’s visits and tests. In this story, the author has provided the explanations Tess and her family needed about epilepsy, tests and restrictions.

‘I’m a swimmer. I don’t know how to be anything else.”

~ Abbey Lee Nash, Breathing Underwater

Title: Breathing Underwater

Author: Abbey Lee Nash

Copyright: 2024

Publisher: Holiday House (children’s publisher)

Format: Fiction

Type: Young Adult (YA)

ISBN: 978-0-8234-5386-3

The Trees Know

The trees know 

of water and wind

of changing seasons

Keeping their roots 

in the dark

the trees know

to conserve water

to bring forth a new shoot

to settle into change

The trees know 

of water and wind 

of changing seasons.

“Do like trees: change the leaves, but keep the roots. 

So change your ideas, but keep your principles.”

~ Victor Hugo

On an Afternoon Walk - Through the Park

Buttercups scattered daintily at waters edge, lilacs bursting with elegance along the path, cyclists and walkers, some with their dogs big or small, while sun warmed benches welcome a casual sit down to watch 

   ducks in flight

      pelicans landing gracefully

Through the park, a light breeze dances and cools the air just enough.

 

“At some point in life, 

the world’s beauty becomes enough.”

~ Toni Morrison

Waves and Water

Daily routine

 ~ a buoy

that has kept me afloat

~ a parasail and board

has kept me riding the waves

in the roiling seas of life.

“In the shapeliness of a life, habit plays its sovereign role.”

~ Mary Oliver, Long Life: Essays and Other Writings