Thursday, May 14, 2020

IF WE COULD SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE

Flowers have a language they share with all the trees.
Sometimes you can hear their voices carried on the breeze

Flowers speak from on the ground…
trees from up above
sharing words of kindness, 
words of compassion
words of acceptance
words of love.

If you listen closely to their voices never will you hear
words of anger
words of hate
words to cause another fear.

As I listen to the language of us humans 
carried on the breeze…
I pray for the day when we are as fluent
as the flowers and the trees. 

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

HOW DID SHE DO IT?

He often asks himself how she did it…
what subtleties did she employ
to help him find his happiness
to help him discover his joy.


Tuesday, May 12, 2020

WHERE LOVE BEGINS

I am in awe of silence…in her perplexity…
There is both a beauty and a mystery in her tranquility.

Have you ever sat in silence with someone you love…
or hoped a silent moment would never end?
For it’s in moments such as these when silence is your friend.

Have you ever stood hypnotized in the midst of a silent snow?
or watched clouds silently changing shape as they’ve drifted to and fro?

Have you ever felt the awkward silence that accompanies a first date?
or tiptoed through the silence when you arrived home a little late?

And there is a type of silence no one should never miss…
The silence one experiences…the moment before a kiss.

In the aftermath of a death, the ultimate silent tragedy,
have you ever felt the silence become your enemy?

Sadness arrives in silence, for there is a silent moment when...
you realize you will never see or hear or touch that person you loved…again.

And even though they may be gone…it matters not how many years
it is in the silence of our loneliness where we cry our deepest tears?

But silence doesn’t stay our enemy for long…she soon reminds us she’s our friend
for it is in the silence of our slumber…when our heart begins to mend.

And soon we’re comfortable again in silence…content because we know
it’s in the silence of the evening when trees begin to grow?

It’s in the silence of the morning that the flowers create their blooms
and the miracle of life begins in the silence of a mother’s womb.

So the next time you’re sitting quietly with the one you love
or on a silent stroll….
remind yourself where love begins…
in the silence of your soul.

Monday, May 11, 2020

TWO OLD PHOTOS

I was leafing through my mom’s old bible that’s sat on our shelf since she died
when two pieces of paper floated out and landed by my side

Two old photos I hadn’t seen before…photos I never knew she had…
Photos of two soldiers…one my mom and one my dad.

On the back of the two photos…five words in faded grey
written in each other’s hand…’you take my breath away”

Photos they must have given each other before war tore them apart
Photos that, while in their youth, showed the essence of their hearts. 

I imagine they kept these photos with them…to help see them through the war
I imagine they kept them near their hearts…like so many soldiers had before.

And when they returned home again…safe, secure…unharmed…
the pictures were not needed for they had each others arms…

So they found a final resting place- their job was now complete..
in a page in Mom’s old bible…until they landed at my feet…

Two photos from a time I didi not know them…when their love was new and strong
Two photos that…after reading them…I tucked back where they belong.

Perhaps it’s a bit egotistical of me…and certainly it’s wrong
but I never thought much about my parents lives before I came along…

But reading the back of those two photos…
from another time…
another day…
made me smile for a moment 
as they took my breath away.

Sunday, May 10, 2020

HER ARMS

Her eyes have a loving glow to them…her smile a certain charm
but the best place to feel her love is inside our mother’s arms.

From the first time we step into them they fit around us like a glove
providing us with all we need…
when all we need…
is love

And showing us, as we grow older, 
anytime 
and anywhere
when we step back into our mother’s arms...
we’ll find some comfort there.

One day we’ll return the favor.
We’ll know when…and where
when she steps into our open arms and finds some comfort there.

And she will feel in that moment
how our arms fit around her like a glove
providing her with all she needs
when all she needs…
is love.

And when she’s no longer with us
when we close our eyes we'll find…
we still can feel that warm embrace…
her arms have left behind.


Saturday, May 9, 2020

YOU CAN HEAR THE FLOWRS SING

When you walk in silence in the morning...
you hear the wind whisper to the trees...
as the syncopation of the crickets
floats upon the breeze.

Soon the nightingale, the blackbird, 
the owl...and the chickadee
begin to sing, as if rehearsed...
their morning melody.

Flowers hear the singing
and, to me at least, it seems
the music wakes them gently
from wherever flowers dream.

Perhaps that’s why throughout the year
and primarily in Spring...
if you listen to them closely
you can hear the flowers sing.


Friday, May 8, 2020

THE EARLY BIRD

I have only head the early bird who wakes before first light
I have never seen her beauty even when the moon is bright.

There was a time I’d try to find her as her song drifted on the breeze
I would search the rooftops, and the bushes and the flowers and the trees.

But I stopped my hunt to see the early bird…even under the brightest moon
When I realized as I was searching I forgot to listen to her tune.

Now when I hear the early bird…when I hear her morning song rise
Not only have I stopped looking for her…I often close my eyes.

For I have learned a lesson…taught to me by the early bird…
That not all beauty must be seen…some beauty must be heard.