gratefullyyourstoday

They Tell Us It Will Come!

Oh! Oh! Oh!
There they are!
What joy!
What precious
Hope they
Bring!

Less than one
Quarter inch they are.

After this frozen,
Exhaustive,
Bludgeoning
Winter.

Pushing sweetly through
The ugly chain link fence
That “hides” the dreary
Expressway –
Cars whizzing by.
Headed home.

Popping out from
Ancient, wizened,
Gnarled gray vines.

These tiny
Amber and moss
Leaflets press
Optimistically outward.

They could not be more
Lovely.
The very first brave
Signs of spring.

JEHW
February 27, 2014

They Tell Us It Will Come!

Oh! Oh! Oh!
There they are!
What joy!
What precious
Hope they
Bring!

Less than one
Quarter inch they are.

After this frozen,
Exhaustive,
Bludgeoning
Winter.

Pushing sweetly through
The ugly chain link fence
That “hides” the dreary
Expressway –
Cars whizzing by
Headed home.

Popping out from
Ancient, wizened,
Gnarled gray vines.

These optimistic,
Tiny amber and moss
Leaflets press outward.

They could not be more
Lovely.
The very first brave
Signs of spring.

JEHW
February 27, 2014

Four Vases

Four vases
Rest in the drain board –
Black,
Yellow,
White,
My grandmother’s beautiful crystal.

Two-dozen red roses –
Some to compost,
Some lovingly
Drying in a bowl
On my Aunt Clara’s
Crocheted tablecloth
On my dining room table.

Valentine’s Day
Is long gone.
But I am still reveling
In the love
That surrounds me.

JEHW
February 26, 2014

The Essential Kind

I have a particular desire
To fill my soul with more fire.

Not the angry blow up
“I hate you!” kind.

Nor the cold controlled
Gas logs behind a glass
Wall kind.

But the warm in the belly
Glowing, aboriginal
Smoke in your hair
Campfire kind.

The essential kind of fire.

Silhouette

                                    She darts by,
                                   Alive and lively.

                                 Long legs
                                 Long arms.

                               Dancing.                                    

                                                                     A silhouette –
                                  A glimpse

                              If only I could
                                     Capture her
                                                 And hold her steady
                                                                            Long enough
                                                                        To understand who she is –

Who I am.
Washed clean of
Unrealities and denials.

           The fuzzy grays
                        Distilled down to
                                        Clear, crisp, merry
                                                       Black and white
                                                                  And

                                                                                      Dancing.

JEHW
February 19, 2014

Uprooting

Little wooden bridge over the reservoir,
It will be a long time
Until I see you again.

Tomorrow my foot will
Necessarily be broken,
A cast applied,
And I will go from
Caretaker to care needer.

A long winter’s nap for me indeed.

After this uprooting
Will you and I be different?
Surely so.
When I see you again
Spring will be simmering in your roots.
Will it be simmering in mine as well?

JEHW
January 2, 2014

Christmas Eve

A luscious slippery chill
Returns to the woods.

An elegant winter white branch
Has fallen across the leafy path.

I pull it away so that others
Can pass unobstructed.

Silence, but for the occasional small bird
Peeping in the brush.

For a moment –
One precious moment –
Peace on Earth.

A Helping Hand

It happened during the 5:00 commute.
A glorious sunset.
Five long lush cloudy fingers stretched across the sky
Glowing oozy pink tipped white with lavender.
Gathering me up.
Filling me up.

And this at the end of a day of
Words painfully delivered,
Poorly said.

Of difficult problems presented
With no solutions.
Of doing my best inadequately.

The great mother knew this somehow,
And came across the whole big sky
To console me.

My heart held close in her
Radiant indiscriminant hand
My soul swaddled like the Christ child.
The pains of the day ease just a bit.

She provides no answers.
Only love, wondrous
Restorative love.

JEHW
December 16, 2013

Wildlife

What would happen to our
Wayward Mister Petie
Were he to, someday,
Wit the sad reality –
Wildlife is not his game?
Wondering cat is all
We know him true to claim.

JEHW
November 10, 2013

Steeples

Steeples send my happy heart
Spiraling straight back to
Simpler, younger days when
Sunday mornings were for
Singing Songs and dressing up,
Shiny shoes and petticoats.
Sisters, three in the pew.

JEHW
November 10, 2013