There she was, that large brown bear, her 

eyes beseeching

us to look past

the cobwebs on

her face to mothers everywhere.

She reminds us

that each of us

is part of life’s

great round, longing to be seen with

 caring eyes and 

hearts that won’t let

us fade from view.

                                                                                            JDG

My son recently reminded 

me that he once

put a bumper

sticker on my

car which read, “Caution. I brake for

no apparent

reason.” When asked

what brought this to

mind, he sighed and said, “Oh Mom,

some things never

change, yet alone

improve with age.”

                                                                       JDG

I took myself in my own arms

and listened as 

I spoke my fears.

Making space for

this outpouring led to a slow

quieting. No

judgements  were made;

no proposals 

given, only a listening

heart and open

mind – just these – and

not one thing more.

                                                                       JDG

After a long season of tan,

even wild 

onions are a

welcome sight as

they bring a touch of green to these

hills of bland. It

won’t be long, I

know, until I’m

singing a different song and

their wild green

offering will

seem out of tune.

                                                             JDG

Undaunted by the vast grey sky,

those daffodils

have their tiny

say  anyway.

Telling tales, both short and tall, of

springs past and those

yet to come, they

invite others:

hyacinth, forsythia, and

more, to add their

voices to this

shout out to spring.

                                                        JDG

After a day of clear blue sky,

evening comes with

a rush of pink

just before dark

settles in and finds me waiting

for stars and moon.

In this moment

in between, the

unrippled pond holds trees and sky

in a spacious

clarity that

holds even me.

                                                     JDG

There will be no sleeping in this

Saturday. The

cool, damp nose pressed

to my cheek is

 followed by a gentle push of

paw. Opening 

my eyes,  I see

arrayed around

the bed, four, furry, hungry friends,

two dogs, two cats,

suggesting I

begin the day.

                                                               JDG

On my way for a morning cup 

of joe, I walk

by Canada

geese who raise their

heads and look at me as though to

say, “Don’t dismay

at this recent

burst of snow. It

won’t last. The cold won’t hold. The arc’s

toward Spring.” I

know they know so

 I walk with ease.

                                                       JDG

I awoke to the fall of white

and wrapped myself

in its beauty

and its descent,

knowing it would slow down the day

and let me too

descend into

a timeless place

where peace and white reside and, for

a time, I could 

stay, find my breath,

and softly rest.

~

Nature’s power took our power

and in the swirl

of snow and wind,

we huddled next

to our gas-lit fire and, wrapped 

in blankets, read.

We’re glad to have

this other source

of  man-made heat til Dominion

Power again

claims its power

and  I, some peace.

                                                     JDG

In our seventies, a hot date

on his birthday

takes us past a

site he’s eager

for me to see: The Cremation

Society.

 Thus he joins this

moment to life’s

ending and to life’s birth, a move

that seems strangely

fitting now that

we’re past our prime.

                                                                       JDG