A quote from my planner:
If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your path. What are you struggling with? How can you help someone else with this and, in turn, help yourself?
Lighting a lamp
symbolism
Filling the bucket
Bucket of Sunshine. gfpeck. CC BY-ND 2.0.
Dandelions represent the return of life, the rebirth of growth and green after a harsh winter, and a display of abundant strength and power. – Lena Struwe, Director of the Chrysler Herbarium
At my school this year, every staff member is writing notes of encouragement and gratitude for each other. We are calling this “filling each other’s bucket” – everyone has a colorful designated bag for receiving the written messages.
I couldn’t think of better symbolism than this bucket of dandelions. Or the quote.
All too often, we never realize the collective abundant strength and power we have.
It is in the giving that we begin to experience it.
Nurturing the summer soul: Spiritual journey
Peace
Last day at the beach
I wake far too early
but I make the coffee anyway
and take a cup to the top deck
I sit in the chair
facing east
drinking in
the deepness
of solitude
the blessedness
of silence
Earth stirs a little
and sighs
like a baby in its sleep
Just ahead, high over the sea
Venus glitters and winks
I am the bright and morning star
I know you are
My waiting soul
cannot think
of anything else it wants
or needs
as black silhouettes
of pelicans
fly soundlessly by
against the sky
pinkening with light
Sunrise
signifying the end
of night
My view this morning: Venus over the Atlantic just before sunrise
Pelicans, while not in this particular shot, are plentiful here. As the sky grew lighter they appeared in silhouette, gliding gracefully against it. The pelican is an ancient symbol for Christ, often depicted in Christian art.
Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, references the River and Tree of Life, the healing of the nations, the end of night, and the return of Christ with the words “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last…I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (13; 16).
The best I can do is to describe this morning scene. The sense of peace, so often fleeting or not to be found when Earth is wide awake and churning, was honestly too deep for words. I shall hold these moments in my mind for returning to when my soul needs more nurturing, long past summer.
—with thanks to Carol Varsalona for the theme and for hosting the Spiritual Journey writers on this first Thursday in August.
Curious connection
gogyoshi: a Japanese poem with a title and five lines
The Curious Connection of Seahorses and Hummingbirds
(Two of My Favorite Creatures)
One is the slowest creature in the sea
the other, the most agile in the air.
One armor-plated, one gorgeously plumed;
what could they possibly have in common?
Fins and wings beating at the same speed.
Tiny king
The Tiny King Comes to Sip His Nectar
He visits a little more each day
watching me through the window, wary
not knowing I hold my breath
at sight of him, flash of living jewel-fire
out of nowhere, here, and gone
My male ruby-throated hummingbird
—took days of stealth to get these shots.
The females come more frequently.
Rubies are the stone of kings; in chess, the king can move in any direction. In mythology, nectar is the drink of the gods. Fitting symbolism for this little creature so gloriously arrayed, so endowed with otherworldly powers. He’s outside my window looking in at this very moment, the morning sun shining on his fiery throat—the brightest color I’ve ever seen in nature. Utterly breathtaking. He’s laid claim to the window feeder since I put another one out in the yard. Tiny king of a tiny kingdom, reigning and defending from a twig-throne on high, among pink blossoms in the crape myrtle…which just so happens to represent royalty.
Hummingbird
gogyoshi: a Japanese poem with a title and five lines
Hummingbird
All summer long, countless robins and doves
at least two broods of bluebirds and house finches
but only one hummingbird, appearing today in the pines
hovering before me like a magical fairy
casting a singular spell of joy
Ruby-throated hummingbird feeding from an obedient plant.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region. Public Domain.
The offering
July morning
before the dawn
I step outside
with the dog
night clings
like a heavy curtain
silhouetting trees
against indigo sky
waning gibbous moon
gleaming bright
bathing the earth
in silversoft light
that’s what draws me
the ethereal glow
and a strange star
above the moon
the dog is here
on practical business
trotting out in the yard
obediently
—he is not mine
but he loves me so
he lived here
not so long ago;
he belongs to my son
away on vacation—
the dog
is like the morning
velvet charcoal
silent
peaceable
watchful
I can barely glimpse
the glow of his white breast
out in the darkness
a whippoorwhill calls
from the pines
while I try to discern
what star that is
so bright above the moon
—Jupiter
king of the planets
and there in the east
Mars, glittering red
the ancients could read
their preordained ritual
but I, in the silverdark Now,
cannot
—a loud animal cry
shatters the stillness
No!
I know without knowing
—here comes the dog
shy and humble creature
who’s not really supposed to run
on his congenitally malformed
frail back legs
here he comes, running
as hard as he can
through the shadows
charcoal in charcoal
soft shape in his mouth
No! No!
how is it that
this most benevolent creature
who’s never done another harm, never
should be ceremoniously dropping
a rabbit at my feet
no, no, I cry
horror and awe intermingled
at the unnecessary death
that he can even catch a rabbit
—incongruous,
how Elvis starts singing in my brain
as if this act
is the sole measure
of a dog’s worth
for here stands The Dog
magically transformed
from meek pet
to mighty hunter
bringing the solitary catch
of his life
to me
a blood offering
under the waning gibbous moon
beneath the winking planet-king
oh beautiful dog
oh beautiful rabbit
I am sorry.
I could never be
a god.
July morning. Jupiter above the waning gibbous moon.
Translation
with thanks to Jennifer Guyor Jowett for the Open Write invitation on Ethical ELA today:
Think about your reality.
What do you see today?
Ponder the possibilities before you.
Allow a free verse poem to develop.
Begin with the line I see…
*******
Translation
I see the sign
on an office wall
simple black frame
simple black font
on a plain white field
devoid of décor
just words:
Alles ist fertig;
es muss nur noch
gemacht
weden.
I do not read
or speak
this language
but that doesn’t keep
images from
springing to mind:
I see furrows
lush and green against
chocolate loam soil
spread out
like a billowing blanket
to tree-lined ditches
I see my childhood
materializing like a ghost
in the white summer haze
I see the cadence
of cicadas
and storytellers
around the dinner table
long ago
(yes, I see them;
rhythms
have shape
and color
as tentative as candleflame
as sustaining as river
as permanent as earth).
—I see it all
even if
I don’t always know
what it all means.
Eventually
I’ll translate
what I see
into words
on a page
for the knowing.
Everything is ready,
it just needs
to be done.
The cup
more than the coffee
I drink deep of the message
for living each day
Purity
a tanka
Photo: Egret by Kim Douillard
Lone snowy egret
by moonstone sea genuflects
in pious homage.
Opalescent baptism
on the wings of no regret.
*******
Thanks to Margaret Simon who shared Kim’s breathtaking photo for “This Photo Wants to Be a Poem” at Reflections on the Teche.
I love symbolism and am awed by certain images that come to mind during composition:
Egrets, snow, opals, and baptism all symbolize purity. So does the sea; it cleanses itself.
Egrets and moonstone are linked to balance. The colors on the water in this photo brought moonstone and opals to mind—they are gems of light-play. Note the posture of that bird.
Egrets also symbolize piety. They prefer solitude.
lit bits and pieces 