He took one look at

my shopping cart and seeing

the heavy bag of 

birdseed precariously

placed, that unknown man

bent down and repositioned

it, nodded, and walked

away – a small kindness that

set right an off balance day.

                                                                                   JDG

During a pause on

this rain-soaked afternoon, three

hungry jays vie for

dining rights amidst a gang

of single-minded,

acrobatic squirrels and

one tiny tufted

titmouse – a backyard drama

rivaling the best 

of political combat

and reality t.v.

                                                                                                  JDG

“Are you pulled over

because of mechanical

difficulties with

your car or with your poem?”

my grandson asked as

he drove past. “I can turn

around and help you

with the one, but the other

 you’ll just have to muddle through.”

                                                                                             JDG

They circle around,

those turkey buzzards. Are they

waiting for their flock 

to be complete? One lies on

the road, hit by  a

passing car. Just yesterday

they sat together

after dining at road’s edge.

One day. One car. Lasting change.

                                                                                                 JDG

After days of rain

and hearing my complaints, she

said,” Why not think of

rain as living water?” For

a moment that worked,

but soon I wished it would move

on and go live somewhere else.

                                                                                        JDG

An ordinary

day, extraordinary in

its own way because

  we awoke and saw the play

of light, the stillness

of shadow, the river of

grace that flows through us each day.

                                                                                        JDG

When reality

gives me a not-so-gentle

tap, I’m called to set

aside my phone with all its

apps, shift my gaze to

all that’s real and struggle to

apply myself to just that.

                                                                                                       JDG

In relationships

of any kind, when the old

“us” is no longer

working, we can open up

and begin the hard

work of becoming aware

of who each of us

has become and start to form

a new, evolving 

“us” from the reality

of who we currently are.

                                                                                       JDG

When even small birds

know who to listen to so

that all of us can 

soar, you’d think we humans would

take note and not let

entrenched interests rule the roost

and soil our nest with fear.

                                                                                                                 JDG

(The reference is to the small finch that  landed on Bernie Sander’s podium as he spoke in Portland, Oregon Friday.)

To be fully seen,

accepted but not excused –

invited to look

at an act of foolishness,

not alone, but in

communion with another –

that was the lasting

legacy given to me

all those years ago

by my Irish grandfather

on a stoop far from

his native land. May I have

grace enough to pass it on.

                                                                              JDG