Beauty in the Midst of Darkness

There is so much darkness in this world. It presses in against us. In the middle of the night, it enters into our minds in the quiet spaces and works to leave a shadow that lingers even when the morning comes. We wake to light, but its brilliance is dimmed by the memory of those…

One Small Garden: Tending the Life I Am Given

How do I keep finding myself here in the middle of the night? I should be sleeping. I tossed and turned an hour before surrendering to the river-rush of words that swept me up in its current and lifted my body out of bed and onto the quiet bank of the 3 a.m. kitchen table….

The Woman and the Seed, A Parable

This is a true story.  It is the story of a woman who fell in love with a man.  She married him with a certain picture of what life would be like in the back of her mind.  It looked like a garden in springtime.  Everything beautiful was in bloom.  Every bird was singing. They…

Vision and Hindsight, A Tale of Two Lists

The year flew by.  This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table, lamenting all the things that I meant to do last year–my open journal with the list I scribbled down, wide-eyed, like a child on her birthday, a January ago.  Beautiful vision.  And just like that, I blinked, and those twelve months are…

Joy and Sorrow (How Does Your Garden Grow)

It still hits me in waves. Not like it did last spring.  When my little garden was blooming and sheets of rain came down steadily day after day.  I drank tea in the music room and looked out over the mint and the marigolds and all the beautiful shimmering living things growing there in the…

Keeping Part of You Alive (Motherhood and Creative Vision)

Sometimes I look in the mirror and barely recognize myself.  What happened to that person I used to be–the one who was bubbling over with good ideas and introduced to strangers with an impressive trail of accomplishments following her name?  The person who had dreams and ambitions greater than getting every room in the house…

30 Day Poetry Challenge

I love reading poetry.  When I read in poetry, I start thinking in poetry.  And this is always exciting.  Until I start speaking in poetry, and people start looking at me like I’m weird. About three years ago, I gave myself a challenge: to write and post an original poem a day for 30 days…

Poppy, Lady Leucojum, and Friends

Happy Spring from The Paper Doll Club. I love the girls’ drawings this week.  Rosie’s Poppy has a beautiful pink poppy dress.  I love everything about this doll. Paloma’s little girls are full of rich details.  One of the friends is carrying a basket of easter eggs.  I hope you enjoy playing with these paper…

The Daily Turn #13: Daddy’s Garden

Walking again today through my Daddy’s garden I become a child. The scent of honey-sweet allysum is carried by the first wind of the end of summer. I can not find a poetic way to say that the towering hastas smell like honeysuckle and gardenias combined, but I don’t mind, because I do not yet read…