RAP: Found in the Outdoor Journal III
'Tis the season to feel overwhelmed. Yet in the midst of it all, I feel a sense of relief and accomplishment. This weekend I came to the end of my first outdoor journal and, indeed, almost to the end of sifting through my chronicles of the year of daily outdoor solitude. As this work is winding down, there are yet a few poems hiding, waiting. Here are a few I found on Saturday...
xxxiv
Maple afire ‘neath
sun’s last flames—
phoenix upon its nest.
xxxv
Maple, fine in yellow
dress, readies herself
for winter’s dance.
xxxvi
Wood-winged bushes
finally blush peach yellow,
succumb to wind’s cool fingers.
xxxvii
Scent
of death,
moldering;
how unexpectedly
lovely
the fragrance.
xxxviii
Fall sneaks into
the house, hiding on
my skin and hair.
xxxix
Moon’s full-orbed
body glows through
chintz of cloud.
xxxx
Dogwood
wears the finest
lace, woven from
day’s departure.
xxxxi
Hemlocks whisper,
“Hush, hush, hush,
the girl can hear us.”
xxxxii
Snow empties the sky
to a bare whiteness, but
it fills me, fills me.
xxxxiii
Little lemon tongues,
wagged off at last.
xxxxiv
Pine sways
softly and I
am at rest.
xxxxv
Hemlock branches
bounce like babies
in their swings.
xxxxvi
“Tip, tip, tip,” says the rain
to my sorrow. “Trust me, do.”
And the hemlocks in their
stillness say much the same.
RAP: Found in the Outdoor Journal II
RAP: Found in the Outdoor Journal I
Madonna and Child painting by Salvador Dali, photo by L.L. Barkat.
Labels: God in the Yard, outdoor journal, random acts of poetry, secret place
posted by L.L. Barkat at 1:48 PM
10 Comments:
Lovely. Snow fills me, too.
I love the one about the phoenix and the one about fall coming in on your skin.
So peaceful, so lovely...um...i miss the snow
L.L.,
I enjoyed those poems. Quite evoking to me of some of my own experience, of really some of all our experiences. But also imaginative, in helping us see more than meets the eye.
Delightful! These words are alive with vision. My weekly attempt at solitude ended with a frightfull escape from a skunk that lay sleeping within a hollow tree trunk!
I'm listening to your interview and marveling at the power of God. We parents have only one recourse if we intend to raise sane human offspring...get our love from our Father! Otherwise, we perpetuate the same insanity passed down to us!
I love your poetry. One day, I'm gonna try my hand at it. Your words provoke such memories in me. I love the one about the squirrel's tail.
Have a great holiday.
Your poetry is sensual, engaging all my senses, making me feel more than alive as if I were noticing those imperceptible details with you, right there, hiding on your skin and hair. There are a few scents I particularly love: horses, sagebrush, and that mouldering, decaying scent of organic death. There is beauty even in the dying, and you have caught it well.
Sarah... it has a gentle presence, doesn't it?
Ruth... thanks. Those are two of my favorites too.
Tammy... I would miss the snow too. I've always had it.
Ted... so you like nature then? Have spent some good time there?
Sojourner... yikes! That's one thing I learned about being outdoors in the same place... it was definitely a shared space. :) But I never encountered a skunk.
Freedom... how nice that you took the time to have a listen. As for the poetry, why I hope you do try your hand at it. Just start small. Little phrases, little noticings.
Joelle... that is the wonderful thing about being outdoors... it brings us to life more fully because it engages all our senses. We feel a little more of God that way too, I believe.
Hemlocks whisper,
“Hush, hush, hush,
the girl can hear us.”
and
Maple, fine in yellow
dress, readies herself
for winter’s dance.
these are my favorites...
i guess because the trees talking makes me smile
and i like the words
winter's dance
and yellow dress
What gorgeous fragments of beauty adorn here!
You are a natural poet.
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