Comes the Dark

Darkness, you bring rich deepness

and tantalizing mystery

both blessing and fear

stealing blankets of warmth

from our comfortable resting place.

You show us stars, planets, galaxies not visible

when you withdraw.

You clothe our world in a blanket of cold,

a womb sheltering the seeds of dramatic sunrise.

You are our Mother as much as Earth

When light appears over the curvature

bathing our faces with tender regard

you take only partial leave

lingering in shadows and making a home

under our hats,

hiding in our marrow

like a kernel of corn in a field

awaiting the sun

to stir its birth.

You bring us dreams –

relief from ordinary life

an existence outside of sometimes banal days.

I would not give you up

nor ask you to stop returning,

for you help me see the substance

gleaming daylight often hides

behind her skirts

Truth hidden by the bright light of the sun

©photo and poem by caf

Passing the Light

Lazy moon in her bed of night sky

makes no light of her own

but only reflects the sun

and trusts the earth to keep her orbit steady.

She lights our darkest world

and her burnished body covers the pines in lacy glow and shadow.

Yes, this spoiled child creates miracles of beauty while doing nothing

but sharing the light she has been given.

©photo and poem by caf

What the Tree Said

What the Tree Said

The tree extends to her

across the road and river

a branch, its wing with flowers white and delicate.

She looks into the centers of calm harmlessness

as they attend to her gaze with

offerings of healing fragrance.

Their spirit offers her inclusion in their peace

and they whisper

when nothing within is defended

 or denied, you, too,

will awaken to your own beauty.

©photo and poem by caf

The Mystery

Waning moon

Stars, small suns to other worlds

the smell of morning.

No matter the evil,

the ugly,

or the political,

the Mystery is still here.

©photo and poem by caf

A Guitar and Max

A Guitar and Max

You are the soul of so many tunes

and my soul as well

old friend – what do you think of your life with me?

stuck in a closet

needing new strings and a tuning.

You are a grand lady

who has served me well

and I will not give you up

although our times being with each other have grown scarce and thin.

Old Max brought us together

muttering over his work bench

tuning, humming

looking for tiny screws with a magnifying glass

eyeglasses heavy on his nose

covering innocent eyes that saw

an awkward young girl in need of hope

and someone’s notice.

He spoke to her in musical words

like strings and sound boards, tuners, and horn bells

and the best language of all, born of unaffected innocence of observation…

the language of the heart.

©photo and poem by caf

A Pond With No Name

A deep tureen

concealed by forest foliage

and therefore mysterious.

crafted by beavers,

quiet but for birds and insects

singing her secret name

while raindrops drum her surface.

Dead wood and weeds clog her banks

where dragonflies are born

and grow in her slimy gumbo.

To those who live there

she is the ocean,

the bottomless crater that holds the world.

But as this wondrous old bowl

reflects the clouds and stars

she dreams she is the sky.

©Photo and poem by caf

Noticing

I’ve been noticing:
Many of the acorns are tiny this year
the waters are full and rushing
waterfalls are full and loudly vocal
the sun is sometimes red in the morning
the moon has not been so visible
frogs continue to croak
dragonflies still hunt mosquitos
I remain in love with cows
mountains continue to inspire me
we are rich in slugs
the spiders have been busy webbing
mornings have been foggy
mushrooms are abundant
the trees are lushly vibrant
I still miss my Mom
I am so grateful for this life.
If you keep noticing you will reach gratitude
that overflows as a water fall streams from an overfull lake or 
a river spills its banks from too much sustenance
soaking the ground of your life
the banks of your heart
and the rocks of eternity.

© film and poem by caf

Clouds

sunrise_edited-1

Clouds

The weatherman forecast rain
but there is only this pink and yellow morning
and clouds glowing white on the bottoms.

A jaguar’s face becomes a wolf
with glowing eyes in the billows
as a rainy-day prediction turns golden.

Maybe later it will rain,
but right now she says
I think butterflies must have been born
on a day like this.

©photo and poem by caf

After Night

sunrise

After Night

After a long black night
pink and white clouds
yellow sun
dark branches waving
against a glowing sky.

Icy waters slide over stones
spring winds rustle the chimes
as she watches the waking forest and fields.

She says the day love and joy were born
has come again this morning
to be remembered
to renew Spirit in the world.

Miracles live within each other.

After dark storms this day returns
as much a miracle
as the breath
and heart that live
within the blue bird on Bennett Hill.

©photo and poem by caf

Great Island Trail

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Great Island Trail

On Great Island Trail a dolphin
rested in the shallows
her body blackened by death
flukes bobbing in the froth
head lying on the shore.

Foam rinsed her vacant eye sockets
washing her memories out to sea
through waves and sandy ripples.

Sand and sea claimed her
held her joys and sorrows
Plankton drifted, awash in her dreams.
The sea, her Mother, will not forget her.

On the shore, fossils, memories of prehistory,
now belong to stones.
And when we finally lay down
we also will belong to something larger.

The soil of our planet lives in a universe
of expanding time.

So, we, like the dolphin, become limitless
and the stars and heavens
and Earth, our Mother, will not forget us.

©photo and poem by caf