Staycation

Far Away Places With Strange Sounding Names - Photo by Author

 ~ Staycation ~

I’ve been away for a day or two
a staycation you might say
escaped the walls I live in
on the pages of a book

I traveled through it’s chapters

as on a train across the land

- left my world behind me

wandered round the bend

through chapter after chapter

I watched the world pass by

while I, with all the friends I

met unravelled mystery

I napped when I felt tired

I barely stopped to eat

I took no calls or emails

this was a two day treat

and when traveling was over

with me safely back at home

I sighed deep sighs of satisfaction

this great vacation's done!

JoMae

8/19/21

Meeting My Muse

My Small Woods

invites my gaze as I glance up from reading

deep in thought

~ Meeting My Muse ~

A brief reflection on one's muse

  to read, to wonder - then to write

this daily occupation fills long hours with delight  

Some sit under giant oaks

or gaze at gentle waves

to hear their muse

to meditate, find

inspiration

<><><><><><>

I'll wander in a quiet book 

or other words to ponder

and settle in to relish all

as new worlds inspire

then interrupt my reading with

wonderings which become

compelling prompts to

capture carefully

I listen for my muse and write

right here in this old chair

meandering the world from

my favorite writing nook

-JoMae

8/7/21

Found also at: jomae.medium.com

Morning Song

Black Eyed Susans in an Overgrown Garden - Photo by author

~ This Morning's Song ~

A brief reflection in solitude

When I wake with a crick in my neck

and a knee reluctant to bend

with no exciting plan to cheer the day

from now until its end

I stumble down, prepare a mug of coffee

to sip in early quiet on the back porch

before our city wakens, before delivery and 

garbage trucks begin to rumble by

Before the birds begin to fly. It is just me

and one small bunny nibbling on the lawn

until she notices and flees into the arms

of John’s garden - her comfort zone

The lawn, more like a leafy meadow

surrounded by tall trees - a forest

tucked into an aging neighborhood

Its shade a blessing on hot August days

This yard, crafted carefully for over forty years

a testimony to one gardener’s love - now

on its own and overgrown, continues to inspire.

And look! A pair of mourning doves appear.

While I give thanks and cheer!

-JoMae

8/10/21

This morning’s reverie… Enjoy!

Braiding The Remnants

 ~ Braiding The Remnants ~

I am braiding the remnants of

our almost 60 years together

the lion’s share of our days

on earth - our sweet duet

Some memories fade as age takes hold

some, stay bright as that day first told

some, thin strings, weave in and out

barely an echo hovering beyond 

refusing to be conjured up

Each day I braid another row and

wrap them round and round to

tie the rug on which I dance

anchored by the echoes of

~ Our Song ~

JoMae

7/7/21

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

<><><><><>

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

<><><><><>

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!