all the stars in the sky

the stars
are my friends

on dark sky nights
they brighten the snow for me
while the moon overhead
shines with them

I need only lift my eyes
to see the story they will tell
--------------------

in the daytime
I lift my eyes to the hills
I catch the sun playing upon the poplars and birch
scattered over pine and spruce
little dancing sunbeams
awakening something within me
attuned to joy
making my steps light
as baa and neigh sounds
call me to hurry up
and drop some hay

at night  
I leave the warmth of 
our home...
Eduardo... 
games of round rummy...
and Kali cat
who prefers the curling up on a lap
and soft caresses 

I head out
and before I can close the door
I catch the song of my quail
my little feathered 
watchdog 
of the night
always singing to me

the night air quickens me
this coldness some nights bring
that can make my eyelashes stick together

I listen for Mr Owl's 
who whoos
from the lone cottonwood far across the field
we are parrots
the two of us 
and we play 
our game
often

now watching where to put my old weathered feet
the 65 years of walking and cajoling 
they have done
I head down our steep hill
taking deep breaths  
energy bursting in and out  
and I always giggle at the 
amazingness of it

I love the snow's soft cushioning
and sometimes it's ice
do I squish
or slide?

checking Shoshi's firebox
I leave smelling like  
a Christmas fir tree
and it makes
my nose happy

I drop hay
to all the critters
their complaining changing to sighs
and soft munchings

I close my eyes 
and sit on my ageless old ladder
sighing big
for all this fineness
for all the healing 
this day has been 

Willow dog
sits at my side
I notice she sighs too
 
Emmanuel
God with us

us restored

walking home
is easier
milk bucket in hand
work done
snow scooped
manure moved
water given
animals content

I put down my bucket

do my swirl around...

this 65 year old weathered dance of ours

the Night and Day Maker
and me

This One who lightens the heart of everyone
Our Redeemer 
He who formed us from the womb:
He says 
"I am Yahweh, 
who makes all things; 
who alone stretches out the heavens; 
who spreads out the earth by Myself."

looking up my heart is light as I find all my familiar star friends
the Big Dipper spilling out as usual all its fullness upon Shoshi's home
her and the kidlets asleep
I follow to the North Star
then the Little Dipper 
my eyes find the group clustered like the moles on my arm
small and squished together
I don't know all their real names
the ones God gave when He alone
placed them where they are
but I know God knows

He shows me
my favourite three

the ones spread in a line
like three kings 
and this night they are just above 
our home

asking if the King is in

will He find room
In this Inn 

my soul sings out to Him
this One who quickens us 
that we might be one with Him 
and the Father 

I know He prays for us
that we might also be one
with each other

His children
as many as 

A.L.L. T.H.E. S.T.A.R.S. I.N. T.H.E. S.K.Y.

my favourite things

-----------------------------
bible verse from Isaiah 44:24






 

 

sunsets and sunrises

          
                                                                                                                          Photo by Jaimee Fletcher

everyone is watching sunsets
and sunrises

the photos are glorious
all pink and softness
wrapped around all our snowflakes
lying deep on the frozen earth
moments of brightness
that makes one
catch
their 
breath

it doesn't seem as if winter has been so long
and now the days are lengthening
we are not asleep 
when the sun rises
and sets

It is joyous
this sharing 
that lightens our hearts
colours of warmth
that spark our spirits
and awakens us
each one to share with their neighbour
the beauty they caught 
as they looked out a window
or took a walk
or were off on horseback

It is joyous
this waking
from
winter's
slumber

and then I remember
we still have three months

and that can stretch to six
before snow melts 
and green grass
meets our smiles
and gives us 
as much joy as 
sunrises
and 
sunsets

and God will wrap that around our hearts
and everyone will post pictures
of new calves 
and baby goats
crocuses 
and kids 
running barefoot

and we will laugh together
this sharing of 
hearts
too full 
with the beauty

it will spill from
one heart to 
another 

from God's
heart 

to ours

we will call it Spring

my favourite things



 

                                                                                       photo by Jessica Field 

uncovered dreams

we uncovered a dream today
for my granddaughter

and at the same time
I shared how we had
uncovered my dream
a hard one

every night in my new house
and in my next new house
I had a dream

in it there was always a big furniture truck
with the tarps swinging from the back of it
it would careen down the driveway
chasing me
it would be able to fly
over the roof of our house
and always two very angry men 
would get out and chase me
I would run but my legs would become rubber
and wouldn't hold me
and just as I would get to my door
and hold the doorknob
they would reach for me

and I would wake
_______________________

It was at ladies' tea
visiting with Gwen
we were in our 64th year
the each of us

we were colouring and chatting
just reminiscing
when I remembered and laughed
______________________

I was six

we had a beautiful  
Chevrolet 1957 Bel Air
with pointed tail lights
turquoise and white
I rode in it proud 

my mom would take us shopping
I would sit in the back with my brothers

but one day
it was just 

me and mom
I was in the front seat

she parked outside a store 
on a steep city street
she said she would be just a moment
don't touch anything

she pointed to the steering wheel with her eyes
I looked at it and nodded

my mom was beautiful
she dressed French
with lines down the back of her dark stockings
and soft leather shoes
with a lovely hole in the toes
where her toes
would show through

she was slender and had on her
tailored suit
her dark hair curled and held back like a crown
her bright red lipstick painted perfectly
her nails polished

she was perfect

I could see her in the store
with the large storefront window
between her and me

I looked at the steering wheel
and pushed something

the car rolled down past my mom as she looked at me from the window

there was a furniture truck parked at the next store down
I saw two men holding a chesterfield
on the ramp of the truck

they saw me coming
fast 

the beautiful turquoise Chevrolet
went up the truck ramp
I don't remember what the men did
but I remember being 
in the back of their truck
I saw their faces 
and heard their shouting

the cloth that hung from the back of the truck
stayed clear in my mind

and I guess the screaming men
stayed clear in my mind too

that is all I remembered
that and hearing my dad ask my mom
that evening when he came home from work
 
what was she thinking

leaving me in the car alone

he never gave me heck
I didn't get a spanking
but our beautiful turquoise car 
never came home again
_______________

and I had a dream every night
in each new home we moved to
the truck could still fly

my legs always turned to rubber
I was always afraid

and now I laugh

I remember how it must have been
them screaming to know if I was alright
this little skinny girl of six
pretty blonde hair
and frightened blue eyes
and no words
stuck in a car
in the back of their truck

memories
and smiling now

uncovered dreams

my favourite things

my favourite things/a rainbow straight up

all day God painted the sky different

a pallet of black and white

then blue grey deep on the horizon

and then came the rain
the wind bowed the trees

then all was still

playing round rummy with dad
I watched the 3:30 sun
lower itself on the horizon
and knew I must run to the other windows
to see the sunset's reflection

rewarded I was
with this quickness of thought

it has happened before
the surprise of God's palette
and today
January 2 
hosted 
a pure delight

a rainbow
triple thickness
shot straight up

the storm
gone ahead
leaving us with the light
and the promise
it is well

I had to call Shoshi
to look
even if her trees were in the way
the promise
was 
still
there

God's promises
faithful and true

my favourite things

my favourite things/ God's circle of love

January 1, 2021

always nice
this walking home with dad

long steps

arms linked

looking up together  to find the moon
safe in a soft ring of life
a circle of life
extended
reaching to the trees in the East
and over to the trees in the West

sealed
never ending
a soft haze but certain
bathing the moon
in the new year
2021

it was midnight
Dad went in
Shoshi and the kids already asleep

head down I gave the hay
spilled water in all the bowls
for the goats
slid the dogs away
for the night

then looked up

cotton balls filled where the ring had been
an entire ocean of cotton balls
circling the moon
clothing it for the new year
bright and cheery
cotton puffs
floating where the bare ring had once been
its soft glow no longer naked

a moment earlier
the sky was boldly bare
but for the moon within the ring

now brightly adorned with
puffs of the Heavenly
clothed in a certain
Humility
bathed in a lovely Grace
bright with Hope

was 
God's
circle of love

my favourite things