First published in 2017; tis the season to repost. Joy in the Journey* is one of the themes of Advent, which is a central part of the Catholic religion, to which my mom was faithful. For me, that thought always takes me back to a dark country road, under a green and white blanket, under…
Tag: family
30/30/2022 Day 6: Birds
We fly at each other, across the human -sized streets of this ancient gathering ground, these mellow golden stone streets We are not old, but youth has flown and taken roost in leggy fledglings blushing beside us. Look at us. These bushy years, these old dilemmas rubber boot years worn low to the point between…
Morning
Originally posted on Prairiepomes:
Joy comes in the morning. – Psalm 30:5 Morning was always Mom’s time. In the winter on the farm, morning would begin with the sound of her rattling the kitchen stove, stoking up the fire. We heated the house via a mixed-fuel furnace in the basement, whom, for reasons that live…
Peach Blossom (after Li Po)
Originally posted on O at the Edges:
Peach Blossom (after Li Po) Ask why I stay on the green mountain and I smile but do not answer; my heart rests. A peach blossom floats downstream – Heaven and earth, apart from this world. ? The transliteration on Chinese-poems.com is as follows: ? Ask me what…
Song of Praise (resung)
In Nass Valley, one shaft of sun lights two red and white toadstools in damp moss, luminous deeper in cathedral, wingéd ugly fungi, colours i wouldn’t admit there, i and all that i am, no less than the stinkhorn and oozing mud sing the brown and wrinkled, slick and loathsome, what i would not dare…
Shimmer
Who remembers, jingles with the buzz; if you hear 1981, do you see those small tables? jostled round by young sophisticates, and here, one northern bush kid, easy tan of metis (years before capital M and definitions that don’t matter in the shimmer of the music). This girl is 16, down in The City to visit her sister…
Without
i am watching figure skating without commentary how am i to know what to think? how am i to know what i see? i was not prepared for this, no voiceover to tell me the names, chain together leap and spin with tales of how this person chose this music, this program, this choreography my…
On This Holy Night
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. – Matthew 2:10 Tonight, I am home in the quiet, Mom. This house is old-fashioned, with the kitchen at its heart, like a farm house. My living room walls are gold, like yours were. I keep a garden, Mom, and I bake bread. I…
Her Singers, Her Songs
I will sing for joy. – Psalms 92:4 What music brought joy to Mom?What were Mom’s favourite songs, and who were her favourite singers? A daughter can’t always know that, as every one of us has songs with meanings we hold only in our own heart. As for the songs and singers I do recall,…
Ten Things
You have filled my heart with greater joy. – Psalms 4:7 This simple statement has squirrelled round in my head all day, while I wondered what to write. Finally, I saw a photo of David Letterman, now old and bearded, like some unexpected hermit, and I’ve taken that as my way in. Dave, if you…
Toes for God
God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. – St. Augustine If not for my Mom, God might have taken my toes, along with my horse and my money. I was the third of six, middle daughter, youngest of the ‘big kids.’ Sometimes I felt a bit invisible to Mom….
Gideons
Joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. – Romans 12:12 When I was a kid, the Gideons International gave out New Testaments to all kids in Grade 5. I remember my big sister got one, though it wasn’t until she was 15 that she really took up with our churchy neighbours – for…
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