DAILY GRATITUDE NATURE

 

I am grateful for all the beauty nature possesses

as someone who loves to write a rhyme….

with nature I will never run out of poems to write

before I run out of time.

BEAUTIFUL EYES

 

So much we could have learned from those 

who were the first ones on this land…

So much they could have taught us

So much they could have helped us understand…

For instance…

How ever human being our sister and our brother

and how the most beautiful eyes are the ones

that seek beauty in all the others.

THE WISDOM OF ONE FLOWER

  When you drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the summertime

your eyes are on overload…

from the amazing vistas you see along the way

to the beautiful blend of colors that dot both sides of the road.

When it comes to all the colors…the best way of portraying it…

Is to say if you can think of a color…there’s a wildflower displaying it.

But I’d like to focus off the main road…into the forest

where we walked in alone…

and came upon this purple phlox…standing on her own.

We felt a twinge of sadness…and said “How sad and lonely you must be

to possess all this beauty that no one will ever see.”

“You humans can be so short-sighted.” She chuckled…

“I might be a flower no other human ever sees…

but everyday I’m surrounded by the earth

her grasses, her animals and her trees.”

“Whether or not I’m ever seen by humans…

doesn’t mean a thing to me…

As long as I am seen and loved by my forest family.” 

“In nature we think of beauty differently…

which is sometimes hard for humans to digest…

every single part of nature is beautiful…

One purple flower’s beauty never stands above the rest.”

“I’m glad you think I’m beautiful…

But when it comes to beauty…the forest is a beauty we all share…

So go ahead and enjoy my beauty…

just don’t let your eyes stop there.”

We decided to take her advice…and looking all around her

we enjoy the diversity and the beauty of all the nature that surrounds her.

We stopped at that purple phlox……when it came time for us to depart….

To thank her for opening our eyes…our minds…

and speaking directly to our hearts…

As we walked away we wished every human would take the time

to walk into a forest…get down on their knees

and heed this simple lesson

taught by all the little flowers nestled in among the trees.

DAILY GRATITUDE BABY HANDS

 

I am grateful anytime I see baby hands…

because in a world where our adult hands

have failed to bring us all together…

failed to make wars cease…

my hope is that when these baby hands grow up

they will lead the way to peace.

OUR BABIES

 

When our children were mere babies…

dependent on us for food, love, shelter…and more

it never crossed our minds

to send them off to war.

I wish we…and our leaders would remember…

when declaring war…

knowing the death and destruction that will befall

those women and men you send to fight…

are still someone’s babies after all.

TINY HANDS

 

For Mother’s and Father’s day this year Deborah and I received

two home-made cards…with a deep meaning we both understand:

A flower card for Deborah…and PopPop corn one for me

imprinted with Violet, our great-granddaughter’s tiny hands.

Any parent, grandparent or great-grandparent knows…

a truth we can’t deny…

how although some moments and days move ever-so-slowly

the years seem to fly by.

So these home-made cards from Violet…

will serve as a memory generator

and remind us of a moment paused in time 

from their treasured place on our refrigerator.

Memories that we’ll call up…

Memories that will then linger…

of a time when her hands were small enough

to fit around our finger.

So no matter how much her hands grow

wherever she ends up across this beautiful land…

we will always have a keepsake

of the time she had tiny hands.

DAILY GRATITUDE THE MOON

 

I remember the first night l thanked the moon…

The night I let my gratitude soar….

I remember how the moon smiled down at me

and asked, “What are you thanking me for?”

“I’m grateful”, I told her, “how from the mountaintops

and down in through the trees….

every night without fail you shine your light on me.”

“And how when I finally say goodnight…

knowing you are shining down from up in space

I always fall asleep…with a smile on my face.”

Since then I thank the moon every night…

for constantly shining through…

knowing every time I thank her…

she is smiling too.