Aftermath

Aftermath

     Willa Cather, 1873 - 1947

Can’st thou conjure a vanished morn of spring,

     Or bid the ashes of the sunset glow

Again to redness? Are we strong to wring

     From trodden grapes the juice drunk long ago?

Can leafy longings stir in Autumn’s blood,

     Or can I wear a pearl dissolved in wine,

Or go a-Maying in a winter wood,

     Or paint with youth thy wasted cheek, or mine?

What bloom, then, shall abide, since ours hath sped?

     Thou art more lost to me than they who dwell

In Egypt’s sepulchres, long ages fled;

     And would I touch—Ah me! I might as well

Covet the gold of Helen’s vanished head,

     Or kiss back Cleopatra from the dead!

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I love this poem by Willa Cather.  It expresses for me the sheer finality; the void, of loss. The impossibility, try as one might, to conjure up in the mind’s eye (or the soul’s) a tangible memory of one’s dear departed.  The futility of trying to grasp an echo of their presence wrestles with the guilty ache that one so dearly loved could be so completely absent from a day’s experience.  -JoMae

Driving South in Autumn

- Driving South in Autumn -

Traveling through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania 

soon after dawn on this sunny autumn morning

the hills look wrapped in blankets of soft velvet. 

Mist is rising in the valleys

In sharp contrast to this veiled distant view

a lake shines brilliant blue and

rippling rivers glisten in bright sun.

The day is mild.

Rock cliffs edge the road

where the highway was cut through 

their faces, wet with dew, reflect the sun 

like giant coal black mirrors to the world.

The trees and hills nearby will not be muted

their colors joyful, many leaves still holding on

though countless branches are already bare

- soon to be blanketed with winter snow.

JoMae

1l/13/16

I ran across this memory of our last road trip the other day.  Such wonderful days. Never dreaming they would suddenly end just a few short weeks later!

Girls Will Be Women

Rules Are Changing -

Boys will be Boys, but
Girls increasingly become strong Women
Able to speak their truth and be believed.

In the wake of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford speaking up, I’ve been reading the many many stories pouring out by women who have quietly carried the secret of sexual assault and its echo of fear with them all their lives - and I’m thinking:

Boys will be Boys
Men will be Men
Girls become Women able to speak their truth.

Beware, the world is changing

JoMae
9/19/18

Quiet Time

Soaking in the Beauty...

QUIET TIME

Enjoying my small woods with book in hand

this stunning late September morning. 

A time to sort the day ahead

to read a bit and think

to meander deep

within and

listen 

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When I step into my inmost Self

for a time of quiet pondering

Godde is already there

Godde is always there - if

I’m aware or not. Always

near to listen, to engage

as I wrestle life issues

or just breath in the

beauty of the day

and listen

JoMae

9/21/18

Flashback - Morning Beauty

~ Morning Beauty ~

(Flashback to September 2012)

https://annaver.blogspot.com/2012/09/morning-beauty.html

The Elegance of Shadow

The garden is less lovely without John’s care

and his zinnias do not grace my table now

but the shadows still enthrall me

I find such beauty there

John introduced me to the elegance of shadow

on an early date, an evening walk around

Reed’s Lake as he pointed with wonder

to the lamp post reflected at our feet

I may not have even noticed.

John saw beauty in the shadows - 

a gift that keeps on giving to this day!

JoMae

9/14/18

Bubble of Light

~~ Bubble of Light ~~

Late afternoon.  The morning sunshine

pouring through these windows is long gone.

A confusing disappointment has left me empty, 

I am riding out the ending of the day ’til it is past.

And then. One tiny ball of light began to gently dance 

upon the carpet. Rays glancing off a neighbor’s window

seeping through the leaves to drop in on me a while?

It came and went, popped about a bit and brought a smile
for there is usually no sun in this room around this hour.
Still, there it was. An errant bubble bursting in and out

and in again until I got the message of its little light.

For even in the gloom the light of joy is present. Even

when we forget - are not aware - Love’s Presence

enfolds us and sometimes in the background of

an ordinary day, sometimes with a tiny nudge

brings a smile bursting to remind us to be

Joyful

JoMae
7/27/18

I Wonder

Through Gates of Splendor!

~ I Wonder ~

I wonder.  If that deepest core within us

that invisible spark which makes us 

each uniquely who we are

that spirit, intangible, yet oh so real

I wonder. When our bodies die,

does that ethereal essence 

turn to dust as well? Or 

does it in the twinkling of an eye

return home to Godde, slip through

the placenta back into the womb of eternity

there to develop and be prepared to be

born yet again. To serve anew

I wonder where John’s spirit is 

what purpose it’s now given

what joy he’s found and giving

I can’t imagine he is idle - even in eternity!

One day I’ll know. Meanwhile

I Wonder

JoMae

6/16/18

On our travels, John loved to point out and photograph beautiful design. This gate is somewhere in Charleston.

~ Welcome Note ~

Dear Friends,

This blog is my letter to the world whose music speaks to me in potent words of color, breeze and shade... 
-JoMae                      (With a fond Salute to Emily Dickinson)

Painting: The Letter ~~ Artist: JamesBrowne.net

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~ Welcome to my BITS and PIECES ~

This blog is my letter to the world

whose music speaks to me in potent

words of color, breeze and shade, through 

books whose notions seed themselves in

nooks and crannies of my mind only

to float around there until one day

I fish a bit, reel in to lay all out

so as to look at them again, try to

clarify, grasp the meaning of those
little tidbits niggling at my brain -

 this blog brings order to the verbal

chaos wafting through my world 

MY LIFE

JoMae
7/9/18

Welcome to these bits and pieces of my world.  If you wish to share a bit of yours or add a comment, please do.  Enjoy!

That Moment...

Photo by Jessicakate Miles
Always - Remember the Rainbow!

~~ ABSENCE ~~

That moment after months of trying to adjust to widowhood, 

when your first real crisis hits resurfacing your grief with

 an acute stab as you realize anew s/he is not

here to share the burden, the fear of this

fresh wound

When new loss reminds you how alone you are without
the presence of your soulmate’s love, voice

companionship and familiar touch

JoMae

7/23/18

Dedicated to all who have lost a spouse and to the friends who patiently listen, seek to understand and help each one of us move on.

Learning From Loss

~Learning From Loss~

Loss launched an education on my life.

Your closed eyes began a stark opening of mine

to things I could not see when life was full with you.

Pondering lost sight of you brought insight to my soul.

While you look now from the realm of Godde

I too see from another view with

deeper understanding

of life and of

Our Love

JoMae

6/4/18