Morning Light

earth shaped
into tile, shadowed
and luminous

gold and warm
reddish brown
melts in my heart

filling me with
a priceless joy
I pause to savor

Kid at Heart

I love my yellow rain boots,
walking in puddles, counting
worms and snails, and tasting
sun-infused raindrops

Purple Rain

purple on pavement
blooms after the rain --
clouds chase it away

around and around
I walk, looking for the source
phantom violets

Last Night

Last night, 9 pm,
I walked by myself
in the mist. Street
lights diffused
into fuzzy melons,
with orange streamers
celebrating out
on all sides.

Eggs

Fragile
and luminous --
freshly birthed
then gathered
mere hours ago.
Morning sun
rewarms you
in your womb
of woven reeds.
There is something
joyful in the soft
colors of your
shells, as if being
cracked wouldn't
be so bad after
all -- wouldn't be
the end.


*****

I photographed
these eggs in an
outdoor market
in Burma

Parking for Spiders Only

between pole and
Do Not Park sign --
perfect spider web

November Blossom

are you supposed
to be blossoming now?
global warming...

Being Helpful

Last week, I was wandering around my garden
and stopped to look for drowning bugs in the
pool. I always grab a leaf or the net to fish them
out. Sometimes, they have just fallen in and quickly
fly or crawl away once I retrieve them. But on this
particular day, I saw a bee that was face down and
not moving at all. I assumed he was dead and
picked up a magnolia leaf to scoop him out. On the
leaf, he started wiggling a little bit. I felt really
relieved and happy for him, setting him in a safe
place and talking to him, encouraging him to catch
his breath and get strong again. He seemed
disoriented and wobbly. I figured he had drunk
a lot of water and was really tired. A few times,
he rolled onto his back and couldn't get upright,
so I gently turned him over. I put a fuzzy, purple
flower near him, in case he needed some sustenance,
and sat with him for quite a while, watching his wings
begin to dry. I figured he'd be fine after he rested.

I went inside and returned less than an hour later. This
time he was dead, face down, near where I left him. I felt
really sad and worried that I had caused him even more
pain by rescuing him, since, most likely, his brain and
lungs had been so damaged from the water. In the water,
he was totally still and unagitated by the time I found
him. Out of the water, he had moved his front legs a lot,
shakily, as if searching for something to grab hold of.
Had he been frightened? Could he even see by then? Or
might he have been relieved to be out of the water, on
the earth, savoring his last breaths of warm autumn air?
I really don't know.

Situations arise. And we respond in some way, or
not. Being human requires us to make these kinds of
decisions and judgment calls, and often there is
not even time to think -- or ask or hear -- what the other
person/critter wants. So we make our best effort. In
my own experience over the years, I've both helped and
messed things up. But I do try to learn something each
time. And I try to keep my heart open. It's important to
listen and feel and stay connected to others, in the present
moment, as life and death ceaselessly unfold. We're all
here, together, trying to figure this out as we go along.


p.s. I will still scoop bugs out of the pool.

Orange Cow

There you are!
I've been looking
for you, for months,
but you were grazing
somewhere else. Was
the grass finally
greener on this side,
again?

Night

Tangerine light
slants orderly
through dark
wooden shutters.
Silence feels
at home, as
dust settles
for the night
on memories
strewn across
the room. Moth
sits on a lampshade,
waiting for someone
to flip on the switch
so it can begin
its flirtatious dance
with the bulb.

Carl Sagan

I often think about the astronomer
Carl Sagan and how he saw the
universe, our planet and humanity.
He did so much to educate people
about life and the cosmos. He
really understood the responsibility
that we have to take care of this
earth and each other. And he
wanted us to embrace wonder
and awe for this amazing world --
the seas, mountains, animals,
night sky -- all of it. I found this
video on YouTube by Malickfan
that really spoke to me, especially
given the situations in the world
nowadays.

Burma (and beyond)

I've been thinking a lot about the
situation in Burma. Monks, nuns,
and protesters are being threatened,
tortured, and killed. And in plenty
of other parts of the world, similar
things are being done to humans,
by humans. It's important to learn
as much as we can about what is
going on.

I've also been watching Ken Burn's
documentary, The War. Yes,
it's about World War Two which
happened "a long time ago". But
wars and horrors are still going
on today. A lot of people feel
powerless to do anything which
will make a difference. But
bearing witness and keeping
an open heart, while helping in
whatever way we can, is not just
nothing. I choose to believe
that change is possible, even if
it takes longer than I'd like.