In those candid photographs,

I see joy-filled faces –

a much needed balance

to unhappy memories

of floundering frustration

and moments of lost temper.

Photographs and memories

capture parts but never hold the whole.

                                                                     JDG

Some come alone, some come

 in groups; some are wary, some are bold;

some linger, some do not,

but all are agreed –

deer, rabbits, raccoons, possums,

turtles, and toads –

that we are the deluded visitors

who think we own what can’t be owned,

an earth that must be shared.

                                                                        JDG

Though the sky

steadily darkened

and the clouds

slowly spread,

the sudden fierceness

of the downpour

caught us by surprise.

                                              JDG

A certain sadness comes as I sit alone

with photographs and papers from the past.

The mind clings to the sadness

and tells a slanted story.

I decide to invite body, mind, and heart,

all three, to sit with sadness, mind’s story, and me.

What we’ll discover, I don’t know but suspect

it has to do with addendums, acceptance, and letting go.

                                                                                                   JDG

Digital clocks mark

one minute and then the next,

but fail to show where

that minute stands in relation

to minutes past or

those yet to come.

Has our consciousness

become digital too?

Can we no longer see ourselves

as one part of a much larger whole?

                                                                 JDG

Slowly we walked, the dogs and I,

past the pond aswirl with morning mist,

past the wide expanse of lawn

alight with morning dew.

I paused to pick up a paper

tossed upon the ground –

a student’s discarded test 

abundantly marked with red.

If only it were that easy, I thought,

to leave our mistakes behind, 

but several of mine snuck in …

 marking the rest of my walk with red,

but one of a gentler kind.

                                                                           JDG

,

Small, green grasshopper,

why did you come inside yesterday?

I picked you up and put you out

only to have you greet me

from the door frame again today.

Clearly you have something

important to convey.

 What that is, I cannot say.

What I can say is this:

“Namaste, small, green grasshopper, namaste.”

                                                                                      JDG