We never know when
or where or how it will come –
in a sudden burst
or a slow dawn. Maybe we’re
eyeing a bottle
of olives in a grocery
store. We might be stopped
at a red light or putting
on our socks. Perhaps
we’re mowing the yard or we’re
waiting for a friend
who is almost always late.
The particulars
don’t matter. What matters is
that inspiration does come.
JDG
Caught in a small space,
constricted and tight, worry’s weight
forces my gaze down –
until something deep within
whispers, “Look up. Though
it’s dark in here, take one step
and then another.
Shake yourself loose and soon you
might make your way to the stars.”
JDG
The birds grow silent
as lightening and rain take
center stage, but when
the storm passes, their song spills
forth once more. They don’t
let yesterday’s storms rain on
their parade of song today.
JDG
My thoughts are without
form and my mind void, a state
appropriate for
meditation, but right now,
while trying to write,
I’d welcome one sliver or
shiver to get me started..
JDG
Jimmy, my dog who
shuns the outdoors, walked with me
the quarter mile
to the mailbox and back. He
eyed me nervously
when I paused, shook his head when
one neighbor asked if
I were ok and nodded
when another offered me
a ride. Dismayed by
my persistence, he sighed and
kept on walking by my side.
JDG
Keep a green tree
in your heart
and perhaps
a singing bird
will come.
– Chinese Proverb
Though we can’t control
the whims of chance and weather,
it is our garden
and our tree and if we tend
it faithfully, it
will become a resting place
for birds of every feather.
JDG
Mother elephant,
seeing new-born hippo grabbed
and dragged away by
hungry hyena didn’t
wait. She charged full force,
scaring hyena away.
The Kings among us
who want civilization
restored might see
it can be done by caring
for someone else’s babies.
JDG
Here and there the gold
of forsythia, the pink
of cherry share road’s
edge with plastic bags, paper
cups, and tossed bottles –
nature and humanity’s
colors fully on display.
JDG
The door closed, shutting
out transparency today
when freedom from some
press trumped freedom of the press –
a bigly move in
an administration’s war
against critical
news and its preference for those
who speak alternative facts.
JDG
In just a few days
I would have been far from home
on the interstate
when my car conked out. Today
though, I was close to
help and home, and in an odd
stroke of luck, my day
was largely free. If something
had to go wrong, this
was the perfect day. With that
thought I grin. Thanks, Universe.
JDG
aholdingplace 