We Are All Miracles

We Are All Miracles

Bits of buttery, pale yellow pollen

powder the inside of a pink lily.

Few will even notice 
except, perhaps, the bees and me.

God stirs up a sunset with his own recipe.

Ingredients?...He uses only three!

Air, sunlight, and wisps of clouds

become pink and blue swirling art

displayed in the sky for everyone to see.

We are nothing but insignificant grains of sand

on an infinite beach next to the infinite sea.

Why were we deemed necessary

in this grand scheme of things?

Why were we chosen to live, to love,

to breathe, and to be?

I'm not sure why, but for whatever reason, 

we are part of the plan.

Our lives intertwine with each creature, each flower, each tree.

We are all miracles made up of music, color, and mystery.

We are magic, math, beauty, and symmetry.

We are all miracles.

Retreat

Retreat

I'm overwhelmed

by my list of things to do.

Instead of doing more,

I need to escape,

relax, unwind, renew.

I need to find respite

in nature's soothing balm.

I need to stroll in the garden

and check on the mums.

Let the cool breeze make me calm.

I need to listen to seed pods rattle

and leaves rustle in the air.

I need to hear squirrels chatter

and blue jays shriek

as they issue each other a dare.

I need to feel the sun

warm on my skin.

I need fresh air to breathe,

 releasing the stress, 

stopping the spin.

I need to center my thoughts 

on the yellow begonias

and the flitting honey bees.

I need to sit and spend some time

in the shade of the maple trees.

I need to watch the clouds

drift by in the sky.

I need to clear my mind

and set free my spirit

before I give life's chores another try.

Tricubes: Therapy, Peaceful Pond, Elusive, Sleepless Night, Curtain's Up!

Tricubes are a form of poetry that was recently discussed in Robert Lee Brewer's poetry blog. According to his column, "the rules of Tricubes are:

• Each line contains three syllables.
• Each stanza contains three lines.
• Each poem contains three stanzas."

I've been practicing this poetry form and having some fun with it. There are no rules for them as far as meter or rhyme, but I like adding rhyme to them. They are quick and easy to write, so I wrote several. I posted them with some of my photos to help bring them to life.

Therapy

Yellow birds

adorn shrubs.

Time to eat.

Red berries

draw them in,

juicy sweet.

My green eyes

watching them:

life complete.

Peaceful Pond

Turtles perch

on a log

in the sun.

Ducks circle,

bottoms up,

splash for fun.

Bullfrogs croak.

Sun goes down.

Day is done.

Elusive

Enchanted

dragonfly,

grace in flight.

Gossamer

wings reflect 

the sunlight,

help her to

flit away

out of sight.

Sleepless Night

Train rumbles

far away

down the track.

Keeps going,

chug-a-chug,

can't turn back.

Lullaby

late at night,

click-click-clack.

Curtain's Up!

Theater 

marquee lights

can't compare

as sunset's

orange glow

fills the air.

Neon sky

steals the show

on town square.

To Write a Book

To Write a Book

It takes courage to write a book,
to accept the challenge, if you dare.
You open your soul, share your heart,
and reveal your thoughts--exposed and bare.
You hope others will understand
what you are trying to say.
That they will nod their heads, cry, or smile
and see life in a new way.
When that book is finally published,
you dance around in a fit of glee,
because your words are there in print 
for all the world to see.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

I have exciting news to share! As you might guess from the poem and photo above, I have written a book! The title of the book is Rainbow Chaser, and it is a collection of my poems. The poems in this book were inspired by: nature and its changing seasons; the gratitude I feel for home and family life; and other observations I have had about the world around us. 

For those who are interested, Rainbow Chaser is now available to order online from the publisher, Booklocker.com, at this link. If you prefer, it is also available to order at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble, as well as at bookstores and other online sites. 

I am thrilled to have this book published and am grateful to Angela Hoy from Booklocker and Todd Engel, who designed the cover, for making this dream of mine come true. If you decide to buy it for yourself or as a gift for a friend, I hope you come back and tell me what you think of it. I appreciate you, my blog readers, for all of the encouragement and support you have given me over the years. Thank you!

Just Call Me "Miss September"

So this is something new. I'm a calendar girl now.  Yes, that's right. I'm Miss September 2014 (sort of). Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are!  Do you remember that song, "Calendar Girl" by Neil Sedaka? That song has been going through my head. Let me set your mind at ease.  There's no need to worry. I haven't turned into a pinup girl in the true sense of the word, and you aren't going to find a picture of me wearing a bathing suit hanging on the wall in some mechanic's garage. Everyone should be very thankful for that.

What you will find is a head shot of me above a poem I wrote accompanied by a lovely photo of a grasshopper sitting on a coleus plant.  My poem titled "Sir Hopper of Coleus" is featured for the month of September in the 2014 Digging to the Roots calendar created by the charitable organization called Writers Rising Up. If you are interested, here's a little bit about this organization from their website:

"We encourage a deeper understanding and participation in environmental stewardship. Through the literary arts at community events, contests, workshops, literary performances, interpretive installations and publications, our focus is on nature education and writing. We promote writers who associate their work to cultural, spiritual and social connections to place, the land, natural habitat, including flora, fauna and wetlands."

The calendar is a lovely collection of nature photos accompanied by poems inspired by the photos. If anyone is interested in seeing the photos and reading the poems and/or having a copy of the calendar for his or her very own, it is available to be downloaded and printed for free at this link:  2014 Digging to the Roots calendar.  Even if you don't want or need a calendar printed up, you might enjoy taking a look at these beautiful photos and reading the accompanying poems. I am very excited to have my poem in this calendar published by this worthy organization.