Chrysalis of Grief

When mourning becomes a time of transformation…

Watching Over Butterflies - Photo by Jessicakate Miles 
(I'm proud of Jackson, my great grandson, on launch day -JoMae)

~ A Chrysalis For Transformation ~

Some tend to feel abandoned in those early days of loss

after the rush of parting, the heart felt farewell gathering

filled with condolence, caring, memories - even laughter

A few weeks on, when hours remain empty

life too quiet without familiar conversation

too still, with even phones forgetting how to ring

When lives have all gone back to normal - all but

the bereaved (for whom normal has now died) who

are lost between what was and what one day will be

Days where all is unfamiliar, life is upside down

and it seems nothing in our world will ever be

right side up again. Days we drown in silence

Until a small spark of kindness penetrates the gloom

a smile, a card - we notice people care - and realize our

dark chrysalis, while foreign, was our needed healing place

Until Our Time to Fly

JoMae

6/9/21

My granddaughter and her children love to shelter larva found on milk weed leaves, then wait patiently as the chrysalis forms and a butterfly emerges to fly away.  

Watching Over Butterflies - Photo by Jessicakate Miles

Time

A Matter of TIME

San Francisco Parrots
Photographer: Scott Runcorn

~ Our Hours - My Minutes ~

For years, all fledglings flown

we traversed each day at a

leisurely pace armed with

quiet plans and purpose

our lives were full, framed around

each other’s schedules and long

conversations, we danced the

hours within a harmony we

largely took for granted

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Suddenly our hours were only mine

when conversation stopped and

time measured in minute steps

each minute endless silence

an empty void devoid of harmony

purpose gone - no plan in sight

save to find a way, look deep

into past lessons learned to

survive this new reality

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Time does help to heal

present time, future time

most especially, past time

which holds strength to build on

courage learned before - life long

lessons stored for such a time as this

JoMae

5/18/21

Bent Over Sycamore

My Leaning Sycamore

 … and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. — Luke 13:11

Bent over woman

I think of you whenever I see

the bent over tree in front of me

Crowded hard by a nearby oak

towering with powerful limbs

with reach about to catch her

She leans away toward open sky

reaching for her share of sun

causing a permanent sway

each day, overpowered, she now

bows in obeisance — no longer

able to straighten her stance

to stand upright and sure

-JoMae

5/14/21

Nature Crippled Over Powered Life

Love's Echo

 ~ Love’s Echo ~

floating on a love now gone

as truly as white clouds above

gently drift through summer sky

wrapped in whispered echoes

of an ever changing world

hushed by a breath of

breeze bearing her

aloft, yet moving

along with new

strength and

purpose

New Joy

JoMae

5/13/21

Life Niches

~ Peacock ~  

Painting by NancySpoelhof.com

~ Life Niches ~

When the niche you fit in is no longer there

and no known niche fits you - anywhere

it may be time to hone new space…

carve a new corner for yourself

invite new friends to share

unearth old hobbies in

new ways you love

build fresh joy from some

small corner of before

and bloom!

JoMae

4//2/21 

For those limbo times in life when one must move from old to new; from before to after - yet find a way to thrive.  Enjoy!

Dawn

Dawn's Early Light

~ When Morning Gilds The Skies… ~

I love dawn’s silhouette in early springtime, the

skeletons of trees when leaves have yet to form

against the lightening grey of a still quiet morn

when only birds and squirrels are stirring

awake and dancing on the branches

high in a distant tree against the

sky - above first daffodils

JoMae

3/30/21

Good morning everyone! I watched the world awake this morning and with the dawn came these few lines. Enjoy!

Celebrating Springtime

~ Front Porch Melody ~

Another robin.  Another mild Spring morning

our second getting up to seventy degrees

in this week of mellow front porch days

a unicycle day - one just went by -

the trees, still bare skeletons,

expose the blue soon to be

hidden by green leaves

and welcome shade

so now I’ll glory

in the sun

JoMae

3/23/21

~ Celebrating Spring ~

Yesterday in the backyard

looking high to the top

of the  naked maple

branches, I caught

a glow bestowed

like a crown - a

silvery diadem

on its furthest

reaches like 

a soft  halo

blessing a

peaceful afternoon

JoMae

3/23/21

Bluejay Couple on the Wire

 Celebrated this gorgeous March day on the front porch.  A couple drafts to share if you like. Today’s serene delight on my street and yesterday’s sweet glow atop my backyard Maple. Then, while capturing the beauty of those Spring branches in sun, a pair of bluejays stopped to visit for a while, resting on the wire running through the trees. Two lovely days and more to come! Enjoy!

February's End

~ A Field of Dancing Daffodils ~ 

Celebrating the end of February

knowing that spring is not right

around the corner, I thought to

share this cheerful field and

add a touch of color to the

snowy views burying so

many northern friends

JoMae
2/27/21

Seeing these  fields in Holland many years ago, brought to mind William Wordsworth’s ‘host  of golden daffodils’… 

 I WANDERED lonely as a cloud 

That floats on high o'er vales and hills, 

When all at once I saw a crowd, 

A host, of golden daffodils…

Shadows Dancing

~ Shadows Dancing ~ 

sometimes it’s hard to know

where the real you starts

and the shadows end 

in life’s reflection

of the dance

JoMae

3/3/21

Winter Oak

~ Watching Winter Oak Leaves ~

Because that oak leaf landed gently on my hand last fall

which a friend kindly memorialized in a sweet painting

and I preserved, pressed in my hard cover copy of

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

the few remaining leaves still dangling from their branch

outside my window, seem to dance and wave at me

each time I look up from my writing chair.  In just

the right breeze they skitter and prance - like

frisky kittens reaching for each other then

pulling back teasing to be caught

and when the wind is strong

I marvel at their tenacious grip

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I’ve read of prisoners in isolation making friends

and playing with the spiders on their cell wall

I fear I’ve thus befriended old oak leaves

still  dancing at my window  as March 

winds unfurl. Somehow they make

me think of John - now gone

no longer hanging on 

JoMae

2//27/21