Life on the Ground

 

Outside on the to and fro 

I saw a soft grey pigeon, 

waddling and pecking at 

unseen crumbs and seeds, 

while a little red squirrel 

leapt from a tree branch

to a fence and scrambled 

to the ground. Was it to 

check for a peanut or two 

in a carefully tended garden?

The noise of cars and trucks 

vanished as I watched this 

little life on the ground.

Standing to one side, 

a little tree gave them 

dappled shade, the earth its seed. 

Life continues every day 

whether I pay attention or not. 

Today, it filled me with warmth

for this little bit of reality.

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”

~ E.B.White

Ours Alone

Shining for a moment, until 

our fear of being laughed at 

tugs at our necks like a chain. 

To own our being after our 

life travels can be difficult. 

To be brave and claim the right to shine is ours alone.

“[N]obody likes having salt rubbed into 

their wounds, even it it is the salt of the earth.”

~ Rebecca West,  The Harsh Voice

The Chill of Autumn

October, 2008
Hazeldell Orchards, Kelowna

Autumn shows up faithfully each year to the call of the geese gathering flocks; with boisterous winds cold and rough edged.

Bales of straw and hay, rolled and tied, lie quietly in fields of gold, a nest for mice and voles until trucked away.

Leaves, as if by magic, change into their beautiful red, gold, orange hues readying for the final float to the ground.

Fruits, vegetables and grain, 

ripe for harvesting, fill markets 

with abundance for winter 

sustenance and goodness.

Soups and stews bubble and steam

to serve the bounty of harvest 

at the table; warming insides 

to ease the loss of summer.

Sweaters and blankets, their cosy warmth 

for colder days and nights, are 

resurrected from dark cupboards 

~ friendly companions in the chill of autumn.

“I notice that Autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche