triple treat

 

The evening after

tasseled and thirsty cornfields

drink three inches rain,

 

Trio of stars fall

as August meteor show

streaks the southern skies;

 

Three couples huddle

around campfire’s glowing blaze

warmed by friendship’s bonds.

 

God, who gives good gifts,

lives holy love triangle;

mysterious One.

 

is greater than seven

Rest > sleep

Memory > past

Worship > church

Love > sex

Family > marriage

Education > school

Peace > quiet

 

farm garden sonnet

Emeralds are growing in this plot of mine;

Wet diamonds drip along each stem and blade.

Pea pods hold treasured pearls of the vine,

Rich mud deposits wealth upon my spade.

Huge heads of cabbage split with dewy weight

Match mercenary broccoli’s envied green.

Tomatoes blushed like rubies tempt and bait.

Potatoes’ karats gain interest unseen,

While beans of jade hide underneath soft leaf,

And sweet corn kernels ripen time to gold.

Why should I share my gems with raccoon thief?

Let’s harvest booty till the ground turns cold.

A cornucopia of food to live!

Thanksgiving’s a small price for us to give.

 Image

breathe!

 

Still-life form lay in garden;

very image of the holy tri-unity

perfectly cast in brown clay.

 

The divine animator stoops,

gently cradles prone body, then

exhales his inimitable spirit life.

 

Heart beats as chest rises;

eyes flutter open in surprise

as first man meets his maker.

 

Breathe on us, into us,

that we, so cold dead in sin,

might inhale pure love with

 

respirations of clear joy,

to live grace-full and forgiven;

the image of God, restored.

 

Gettysburg in retrospect

 

Break camp in early morning dew,

assemble at bike shop before rental battles begin,

move out equipped with maps, helmets and backpacks.

 

Family expedition to historic war zone in July,

amid maturing wheatfields and quiet peach orchards.

 

Pedal single-file,  pause to read marker,

muster a smile for the photograph and

retreat to the solemn shade for a picnic lunch.

 

Today, brothers volley friendly jibes where

yesterday, brothers exchanged whizzing bullets.

 

Sweat to the crest of Little Round Top,

dare to peer down a cannon’s dark throat,

weigh the lead ball in your hand and shudder.

 

Monuments mask the magnitude

of the horrors that happened here.

 

Civil-War-Cannon

for the love of lilacs

IMG_1351

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, the sweet promise
of budding lilacs which
soon bloom like true love;
delicate, sensuous flower
all glorious and lovely
with a heady scent.

But, it’s no surprise
when clouds blow in
and heavy rains beat
fragile blossoms down;
or the fragrance simply
fades with the season.

Wait, for the lilacs,
when love grows dormant,
for time comes around
and what faded is renewed;
dry twigs will green again
and flower more profusely.

If, it would endure,
love must be rooted
like a spreading lilac bush
in the nourishing earth,
anchored in something
greater than itself.

 

Last elder

 

The gnarly old tree

stands proudly alone

like some wrinkled farmer

surveying his fine homestead,

treasuring years of memories.

 

Refusing to retire but

rich with rings of aged wood,

his trunk is twisted by time

and branches pruned by the

storms of life experiences.

 

His rough-skinned charm is

a shelter for nesting birds and

a shady place for summer picnics

under the faithful silhouette of

this wisened, peaceful patriarch.

 

narrow way

 

Just as a 

wren wriggles

through a small hole

to nestle in the safe haven

of a snug and lofty bird house,

 

And a barn

cat walks thin

to gain access into

the cozy tunnel shelter of

stacked staw bales in winter,

 

Or a tiny

freckled gecko slips

itself through a crack

to enter, gratis, into

a tropical luxury hotel,

 

So any of

us sinner folk

may pass by faith

through the narrow gate

to live in peace and paradise.

 

Her hands

 

I remember sitting as a girl

in the raftered balcony of the church

during morning worship service,

craddling my mother’s hand in my lap;

 

examining creases in her warm palm,

tracing distinct veins across the back,

touching the smooth pale pink polish

on her clean, neatly shaped nails,

fingering the circle of her wedding ring;

turning its diamond to catch the light

filtering through stained glass windows,

trying to glimpse each rainbowed hue.

 

Mom thought her hands were “too large”

but those dear hands were just big enough

to shape hearts and home, to hold our family

together, with their faithful, gentle work of love.

 

Bye, bye blackbird

images-1

Those blackbird gangs in the grove are
raucous; noisier than an Iowa caucus.

They do not sing but loudly gripe;
more dreadful than the sneaky snipe.

They perch on top finger of evergreen, then
sway to break top off, with laughter mean.

Do not let their lovely feathers’ sheen fool;
their blackbird hearts are ugly and cruel.

They chase the sparrows, intimidate robins;
take over a birdbath like neighborhood snobbins.

If you want blackbirds to bake in a pie,
I have recipes you’re welcome to try!

two + two = four

 

Knowledge is factual, whether or not we learn it.

Truth is timeless, whether or not we believe it.

Love is powerful, whether or not we practice it.

Beauty is exquisite, whether or not we behold it.

God is present, whether or not we recognize Him.

 

where is spring?

 

Bobbing tentatively on frosty feet,

fluffing out their thin feathers,

pecking at crunchy iced worms,

maybe the poor robins should

use their frequent flier miles

for a return trip south !

 

Image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(photo from http://www.askthebirds.org)

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