(“The Heart of It #2”, 2007, original oil)
When A Light Is Extinguished
(for Charlie)
Today a great light was extinguished
A great soul lost to his family, his friends
His nation, and humanity as a whole.
Shades of MLK Jr.’s assassination,
A shadow of hate swallowing up the light,
Spread out across the nation
Like the Sun eclipsed at noon.
In the dark we cry
Hearts broken open
By the senseless taking of a life brighter than most,
Reminding us what kindness and brightness
And generosity of spirit is truly like,
Bright and true
And in its essence deathless eternal.
Rest in peace young man,
Go in peace great soul.
(9/10/25)
Grant me rest under your lissome stems
Let me hide from the raindrops — shiny globules
That drip with tropical hauteur,
Rain that harms the ribs with cold rebukes.
Welcome me within your greenish lair, from
Your cane roots to your starry leaves —I insist on visiting
In your prime, so fresh with dew and so green, like
The envy in the gritty eyes of singed composts,
When waving rays of the shifting sun
Bathe the narrow venues formed by adjoining stems
Up, up and up the stairs and dome of the jungle.
I pray to shoot up with you and befriend the skies.
Oh, such elevation!
Fill my gourd with green wine;
Make me drunk with the spewing colours of life.
My heart is open to receive light —from misty dawn to
Dusk crowned with your blessing.
Let it rain on, I pray.
My palms are spread out like your leaves — I borrow the
Innocence of your frondescence.
Carve me flutes from your nodes, and, from them
Raise the cadences for summons, to be accompanied by
Drums fashioned by hands greased by the gifts of
The forests. . . .
Raise the joy, the frenzy, the tone of the ceremony
Raise, raise . . . upheave them
To royal heights — such as yours.
We walk this earth
To find out what it's worth
Chasing copper and gold
Just watch a journey unfold
I soak in the shimmering sea
Spread out as if just for me
There are heroes we meet
And villains we must defeat
There are secrets so obvious
And truths so deceitfully devious
There's value in a smile
Even if it's only once in awhile
There's pleasure in pain
When you find strength to rise again
I want to see it all
Before the final curtain call
And as I walk this earth
One day I'll know what it's worth
My love grows like a tree for you.
Growing endlessly, it spreads across the garden of love.
It gives us cover from storms, and shade from the sun.
It is strong for us to hold onto in bad times.
It has roots that spread out and intertwine within the garden, making the tree strong to hold on.
Making our love stronger and stronger with each storm.
The tree of love is so beautiful, with flowers and green, it glows, like our love, so brilliantly.
My love for you continues on and I planted this tree for you to hold onto in the storms.
For all the storms that may come, remember we can always find a way to calm ourselves with the beauty of our garden of love.
Our walk in the garden of love has been so much fun.
May God be with us in our garden, we pray today and always, lovingly, your children of the garden.
Knowing what you know now about life…
from the knowledge you’ve acquired every time you win…and every time you lose…
If you could, this moment, determine how to live the rest of your years…
which attributes would you choose?
Below you’ll find a partial list…for your convenience printed alphabetically…
all answers to the question…Who would I like to be?
Accepting
Beautiful, Brave
Compassionate, Courageous, Creative, Curious
Decent
Empathetic
Famous, Family-oriented, Friendly
Generous, Grateful
Honest
Intelligent,
Joyful
Kind
Loving
Mindful, Moral
Neat
Objective, observant
Quick-witted, Quiet
Reliable, Resourceful, Respectful
Strong
Talented, Trustworthy
Unbiased, Understanding
Virtuous
Wealthy, Wise
Xiphophyllous (see quick-witted)- (hey you’re lucky I found one with ‘X’!)
Youthful
Zealous
If spread out before you…were all the qualities you could possess…
which ones would you choose to bring you peace and happiness?
Of course we all have different answers…different qualities we’d like to possess…
but wouldn’t it be wonderful if the qualities we choose…
led to not only our own…but to everyone’s happiness?
The charcoal clouds melt in the scorched sky,
serenading summer drizzle descends
with the fascinating flotilla in the arid air.
The spectrum of the setting scarlet sun
sparkles in the slant spray of the raindrops,
soaking the singed malachite meadow,
as pristine petrichor exudes in amber ambiance.
The raindrops cascade in soft musical torrent
in the misty puddle, spreading in my pasture.
I feel the nostalgic delight of my youth return.
The little pool morphs into glistening ballroom floor
for the aquatic ballet of the rolling rills.
I hear the silent symphony of the melodic past
in the rhythm of the raindrop dance.
From the barnyard comes a hopping fawn bird,
with spread-out wings flapping in the drizzle
the chicken squawks the tune of waltz for me.
So, I join her doing the feathered twirl,
spinning around together with slippery slide.
I tap my toes as she splatters the muddy water,
bringing back my younger days of joyful chicken splash.
Years lay over,
tilt to shed tears,
from eaves of leaves
that sway, stay and,
stray away to far beyond.
Lay, lady, lay.
Come allay your fears
and I'll let your colors shine,
if you'll stay with me, for awhile.
Lest, I lay to rest,
a wreath for you,
for the good times we shared
long gone.
The years drift away,
way out wide on the tide.
Marooned as lullabies
of lilting longing shadows,
echoing woe, and go, betides,
way out beyond the breakers,
beyond the lay of years.
The ring of fresh colored flowers,
you once wore around your neck,
now lies forlornly lain,
as a garland of petals,
dropped from a ring of flowers
onto the ground.
Onto the layers of years,
spread out on a mound of tears,
never to grow old,
beyond the lay of years.
I grew a rose from cuttings
pinched from a loved one's plot,
watered at ground-level, not at the top.
Dung and mulch kept well away,
from stems lest their collars rot.
In time, it grew buds that blossomed
into flowers, a bounteous bouquet,
with bursts of red petals, blood bled.
It started with a sprinkle
like from a watering can, but grew.
into a torrential shower
blasting the petals
onto the ground, all around the roses,
which were stripped bare,
to stems, buds, shredded leaves and thorns.
I cried to see all my endeavors lost.
All my efforts lost in vain
to sometimes rain, falling on my roses,
with disdain of rain, utter and complete.
But, when I looked again
I saw the petals all spread out
as a lovely bedspread quilt
surrounding the stems,
on the bare cold ground stained by rain.
Their beauty astounding still,
with red blooms shed, shredded, departed,
garlanded into a ring of petals
that arose to save our day.
~ The shadows are colorless - give them soft edges ~
quote by poet
A butterfly gathers its wings in melancholy
it needs to dry before it can fly again
Finding the root of the emotional balance
and inner strength -
Clues are woven in soft dreams
From the lower chakras to the highest chakra,
to spread out the winged crown
A secret whispered in the breeze
- flower-pressed butterfly kisses
The pain, woe and lonesome,
playing the violin on its suffering strings
Felt as a fall from the height of the blue sky
Forgotten is the passions lullaby and
the vibrant color that once was a painted masterpiece
I am that night which is full of darkness,
Neither the moon is my companion, nor the stars have any existence.
Every corner cries a story inside me,
But no one listens, everyone waits for the morning.
I have cold sobs in my lap,
Shadows of broken dreams.
People say I am scary,
But how do they know, how true I am.
Every light starts from me,
But no one ever calls me a destination.
I sleep every day wearing pain,
And spread out for the smile of the morning.
Only the one who has gone through my depths,
Knows how silent but alive I am.
I am that night which burns itself,
So that others can get a peaceful sleep.
'If my poem touched your heart, please leave a comment ??”
or
“Your feedback is precious to me - please let me know how you liked it"
This blessing goes out to all the writers out there…
who don’t know where to start.
Who have words that want to be released floating in your heart.
Who feel like you’re on a beach…
and as you look out from where you stand
so many of your words spread out in front of you
like tiny grains of sand.
May you be blessed to start scooping your words into a pail
use a shovel…use your hands…
and don’t stop shoveling until you have enough words
to write what you want to write…
to build your castle in the sand.
The
gifts of
spring uplift
our hearts to know
winter scenes are gone
replaced by brand new arts
only newborn spring can bring;
as budding blossoms spread out wide
full, green lawns lay down a velvet sheen-
and spring's new magic paints the gray away.
glowing spring colors
budding twigs spread out their fan ~
embracing cute duck
5 large egg whites
250g caster sugar
380ml double cream
5 tbsp lemon curd
300g blackberries
2 tbsp pistachios, toasted & roughly chopped
InstructionsPreheat the oven to 180 C/160 C fan. Line two large baking trays with baking parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Adding the sugar 1 tbsp at a time, continuing to whisk until you have a stiff, glossy meringue.
Divide into three, placing two big dollops nto one baking sheet and one on the other. Spread out until you have three circles approx 20cm in diameter.
Place the trays in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 140 C/120 C fan. Bake for one hour then turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside to cool completely.
When ready to serve, whip the cream until soft peaks form and fold in the lemon curd. Remove the meringues from the baking parchment and layer with whipped cream, blackberries and a sprinkle of pistachios. Serve in thick slices.
This meringue cake is best eaten on the day of making, but leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a day or two.Fagotto Amaretto chocalae and piscatoes
The trees crowd in along the broken trail,
sunlight tries to push through, but mostly fails,
straight trunks spread out and obscure distant gaze,
there’s eyes out there, watching, afraid they’re prey.
Ahead a break grows larger with each step,
cerulean against the forest depth,
the summit rock cresting half of the peak,
this vantage sought by many weary feet.
Red squirrels chitter and dash as I emerge,
I want to shout, but I restrain the urge,
swellings of peaks spread out like tapestries,
their secrets hid beneath the endless trees,
a slash of gray where earth cuts through in stone,
Mother Nature is lost without her bones,
then rips of blue, a ribbon swaggers slow
to wild ponds saved by being remote,
marsh meadows near sometimes reveal a moose,
but today only mallards are in view.
Beyond this lies a scar, a bigger lake,
fringed by cabins and docks, stretching out straight,
above it all vultures fly on the breeze,
their slow circles effortless and lazy,
to think such birds get this view every day…
Who knows if again I will pass this way.
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