Clinging to the window, looking
out, that praying
mantis could see
what she could not
reach. All the waiting in the world
won’t help her get
to where she wants
to go – or so
I thought – until a hand reached out
and helped her move
past everything
that kept her trapped.
JDG
“Daddy, will you play with me with
your shoes off?” he
asked, wanting to
make sure his dad
would not wander off, but would stay
and really play.
The young boy asked
the question I
too would like to ask of you, for
sometimes I’ve looked
over and seen
you’ve traveled on.
JDG
The fog of morning’s not only
in my brain. It
casts its silken
net over rocks
and roads, wraps itself around trees,
and catches cars
and cows in its
fine mesh. Sometimes,
for a moment, the sun slices
through, but so far
nothing’s outside
its ghostly reach.
JDG
The measure of our lives can’t be
found through simple
addition, the whole
always being
greater than the sum of its parts.
Why focus on
one part or the
other, or on
the sum they make – as if the soul’s
worth could ever
be measured through
arithmetic.
JDG
Taking my old friend by the hand,
I lead her to
a refuge by
the pond and we
( melancholy and I ) sit with
all that life has
brought my way and
all that I have
brought to life. When melancholy
departs, she leaves
behind a gift
of poignant grace.
JDG
On the last day of August at
the close of day,
that small rabbit
has returned, but
this time to an empty sweep of
green. No ravens
strut and swagger,
demanding she
retreat. No cats stalk, nor dogs come
near. Head held high,
ears erect, she
surveys her land.
JDG
After the rain the ravens came
and commandeered
the yard as one
small rabbit looked
out from beneath a juniper.
Butterflies vied
with bumblebees
and hummingbirds
for a place among the flowers
while our old cat
lay nodding in
the noonday sun.
JDG
High on the horizon, pink clouds
lie swirled across
a field of blue,
but lower down,
close to the ground, dark clouds cluster.
While I want
to trust the high
horizon, I
know I can’t ignore what’s lower
down. Tomorrow
we’ll know which, for
a time, prevails.
JDG
What we thought was a maze became
a labyrinth
as openings
appeared where first
we saw dead-ends. This winding path
to center and
back again is
walked step by step
not with clarity but with trust
that the journey
itself will bring
us what we need.
JDG
The warm salve of apology
can’t take away
that first piercing
pain, but it can
soothe the lingering hurt and help
healing begin.
Sometimes there’s no
immediate
relief, but further infection
can be stopped and
restoration
slowly begin.
JDG
aholdingplace 