A mess of oatmeal, a scavenger hunt
For scarves and gloves,
And tumbles into the great outdoors
My eager loves
Tromp and slip, they
Roll and pat and pack fresh snow
Into brand new friends
And when they go
I heat a pot of chocolate hot,
And whip together oven rolls
So when they pile inside again
I can warm their tiny souls.
Tag Archives: Joy
Snow Days
Recovered Gladness
I’m so grateful for my life,
My every day, the ins and outs,
The tiny occurrences
Becoming what I’m about
They flood back to me now
In joy, I’m drenched
Rewritten in laughter
After my jaw unclenched
My story returns in blossoms
Suddenly complete
And the little appearing morsels
Surprise with forgotten sweetness:
Pumping the pedals of my bike
In my brother’s hot pursuit.
Piling into a Christmas Mall
to buy my father a real suit.
Passing off my sister’s homemade cookies
As my own baking, to impress a boy-
Moment after moment,
Joy after joy,
And they were almost lost
All these wandering years
But kindness on kindness
Brings them near again-
Oh, the delight they give!
I’m so grateful for the life I’ve lived.
Father God
Tiny baby legs
Shuffle by in stampede
Chubby baby cheeks
Giggle with glee
And I laugh out loud
As praise to You,
Who in tender mystery
Formed all things new.
I’m in awe of all You do.
It is Now
He pulled close to us
In creation, forming by delicate hand,
So close His breath filled our lungs.
Mankind learned to stand
Inside His tender proximity.
He pulled close to us
In manger hay and baby skin,
Walking in unbreakable love
Not counting our sin
But for the payment He would make.
He pulls close to us,
The day is nearly here!
As a ship approaches the harbor,
With His Father at the steer,
He stands giddy in the prow.
He is so close,
Radiating joy through all alarms
If I lived ninety years
It would only be falling forward into His arms.
Joyful Tenants
Should I endeavor such a difficult labor
As writing of my delights?
Children’s smiling, sleepy faces
Curled up in the night
As I read to them in open wonder
Hanging on every breath:
My joy beyond all bounds,
Gratitude beyond all depths
Or persevering through frustration,
Teaching through tight contention,
Until the surge of glee as
Confusion dissolves into comprehension.
Or of watching my husband,
The soul of my soul,
In the prime of his integrity,
His dignity intact, whole-
His spine reinforced
By the character of his loyalty
The measure of his sum
Equal to any royalty
And he stands in broad shoulders,
The regal strength of his arms
Cradles our wee ones
Past all their alarms.
We laugh through storms,
Elated by our company.
Our home exists in love,
Abundant joy, and harmony.
And whatever disparity
Birthed my days,
Whatever I process
In verbose waves,
None of it lives here;
I was cast away,
And now I live in a world of delights
Far removed from yesterday’s casualties.
She Sings
Precious little moments
Strung together, one by one
Like popcorn chains on Christmas trees,
Like dress-up beads,
Or bubbles dancing in the sun.
They need little exposition
Just an inhale, a pause, a smile
There’s no simpler machine of insight
Than the filter of pure delight-
Joy is forthright
In all her wiles.
How quietly she rises-
No posterity screaming off the dark
She listens more than she speaks
I listen to her: I seek
Her beauty in the broken bleak
Waiting to embark
On popcorn strings
And the harmonies
Of love, and hope, and now.
Footfall Notes
I remember you
Walking in slowly like fingertips
Traversing a weeping piano
Notes as quiet drops slowing,
Collecting on the pane
That holds us at bay.
I heard you
Humming a doleful dirge
Between the bars
That stir our hearts
To refrain, to merriment, to holiday-
Your solemnity undergirding
The beauty of your sway.
Our Native Land
How I yearn for lightness,
The unflinching faith
That lifts the unblemished face
To smile at the fists of time.
I recall laughter
Bubbling from deep soul,
Nothing to dampen, nor console
Boundless joy.
My days got old.
My thoughts, so heavy,
Watch children skip steady
On feet of hope and wonder.
I am atrophied
Or else I would sing,
Dance, lose everything
To skip in lightness again.
Fragrance of Summer
My children smell of grass
And garden hoses-
All knees and elbows,
And sunburnt noses.
So eager for the comfort
Of shade and clean clothes,
They curl up in my arms,
My gift of repose.
And I can’t wash this off,
Not with years of soap.
My children smell of grass,
And laughter, and hope.
viewingcamelot 