Reassurance
The sun rises in spite of everything and the far cities are beautiful and bright. I lie here in a riot of sunlight watching the day break and the clouds flying. Everything is going to be all right. —Derek…
Light at the End of the Tunnel
The light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an illusion. The tunnel is. —Michael Rizk The other night I woke up and started thinking about the Supreme Court and the direction of the country, which is not a…
Mindful
Every day I see or I hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. — Mary Oliver from Mindful This poem reminds me of a…
Rock Lessons
a warm fall day, learning from this rock to do nothing —Paul O. Williams I started taking piano lessons when I was in second or third grade. I took first year piano lessons for the next 10 years. There…
Swim with the Tide
Let go of the ways you thought life would unfold; the holding of plans or dreams or expectations—Let it all go. Save your strength to swim with the tide. —Danna Faulds If there was ever a year to let…
Seeing Stars
Summer night: in my eyes starlight hundreds of years old —George Swede Every year I tell myself that I’ll stay up to watch the Perseid meteor showers and it never happens. I like to sleep! But this year, I…
Light the World!
Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, “You owe me.” Look what happens with a love like that— it lights the whole world. —Hafiz Real gifts are not a tit for tat experience. It’s…
Our Work
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn? Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work. —Mary Oliver What is our work? Our work is not…
Out with the Old
Sweep the mind clean like a field of dry stubble when the constellations of daisies have been mown —Mary Barnard Sometimes my mind is like a cluttered garage with seemingly unrelated thoughts stacked all over the place. Other times,…
Seasonal Moments
beautiful lines of green run through the summer dishes —Tatsuko Hoshino My summer dishes are edged in green with flowers along the border. Using seasonal items, eating seasonal food, wearing seasonal clothes, reminds me that I am part…