Kitchen Blessings

Tea For Two

 Kitchen Blessings

The kitchen is warm, the coffee hot
as I wrap my hands around my favorite mug
and ponder many blessings.

The world beyond the window where I sit
is a harsh cold whirl of snow.
But our fear is now behind us.

Spring is in view!
The darkness is over.
We have survived the night.

Soft music and the comforting
whir of the dishwasher
remind me of normal.

Soon our days will return to routine;
Once again draw to a close with tea for two
Around this old kitchen table.

                                JoMae

                                  12/14/14

 I pecked this out on my phone while enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon cup of coffee while John wrote Christmas cards.  His health is returning and this is probably the last Sunday we will be home together.  Our goal is to get back to church this week.  I thought of going alone this morning, but in a wonderful way, these hours together have become precious.  This new symbiotic pattern is becoming unnecessary and while that is a good thing, in a way it will be missed.  I  was not needed at home this morning.  He can manage on his own.  But I cherished the thought of one last quiet Sunday morning alone together. And stayed.

Harvesting Words

Harvesting Words

I scan the horizon for just the right words

words that speak eloquent meaning to me

words to examine and test for their flavor

words holding truth like a sweet pungent pear
words that will clarify difficult answers
words that are ripe and ready to pick
words that will satisfy

sometimes I find them in bits I have written
seeds I have planted myself

often they're sprouting in pages I'm reading
or pop out of a piece I am listening to - a
perfect expression for the question I'm asking

then I quickly reach out to snatch it and
 tuck it safely within a sentence that is
 desperately gasping for life.

JoMae
6/1/14

                                                                               

Lavender Lawn Poem:

Lavender Lawn  

The weeds are ruining our small city lawn

Which should be re-seeded one day.

But they're green!  I mean, from

My perch on the porch they look perfectly okay!

The real reason I want to keep our weeds,

The gift they bring to me,

Is the profusion of lavender spilt every Spring

When blooms begin to sing!

Each May, for a couple of weeks or so

We have an ethereal violet view.

A sight so soothing to my heart,

So treasured for memories evoked,

I always dread when it must go.

Today our lawn is lavender blue

Suspended on a field of green

With dandelion splash for accent -

A composition fit for a queen!

Our rabbit family comes to chew.

Squirrels chase each other's tails.

Birds hop around and poke and preen

While I sit up here enjoying the scene

As if I have nothing else to do.

Blessing it all is the tall lilac bush

Blushing full bloomed as she sways in the breeze

Bending and bowing her well ladened limbs

Wafting aroma of lavender green

All over my world.

I'm watching - yet seeing a photo I have

Tucked in my heart for fifty odd years -

Of the mom I once was in a soft purple dress,

Posed with my firstborn in Ellison Park

On a lawn drenched in lavender blue.

My First Mother's Day

May 1961 

-JoMae Spoelhof
 5/15/14                                                                      
                                                                               




I had purchased that simple cotton dress in my favorite color to send to John's mom for Mother's Day.  Somehow it never got sent.  One day he suggested I try it on.  It was a little snug, but I wore it anyway for our walk in the park.  I felt pretty that day and knew that I was loved - by the small boy in my arms as we sat among the violets - and the smiling young man behind the camera!