Tag: trees

Today I Came Looking

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

light1Today I Came Looking

Today I came to this woods looking for a poem
and this is what I found….

In the distance, in the trees
a luminescent wave of foggy sunlight is piercing everything,
delivering the energy of Life,
the love of God.

A bird floats back and forth and becomes transparent –
a foggy lamination playing in white and yellow currents
riding on the exhalation
of the breath of God.

I won’t hurry too quickly from this place.
I won’t say ‘I’ll be back tomorrow’,
For this light,this particular tantalizing light
is the face of Holiness.

by caf

©photo and poem by Carole A Fults

A Secret for You

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

robinThe Secret

This morning the sky is water tower blue and
My heart is humming as I think about all the people I love
Those who are happy
Those who are suffering
Those who are happy but struggling
As I recall the faces
I wonder if there is something – anything –
I could give that would make their lives easier, happier, freer.

One time from an upstairs window I watched a robin
bring food to his nested young
who were chanting their hunger pangs
He placed an answer in their open, squeaking mouths.
One by one he fed them and still they hollered
their bellies craving more
I envied him – he had something to give to those he loved.

Often my giving feels inadequate to the love I hold
and sometimes giving something is easier than just saying
I love you, the love word being so awkward among us.
Sometimes anonymous love is easier.

I want you to know so there is no mistake …
if I give you something –
a hug, a piece of art, an offer of assistance, a kind word,
a smile, a plant, some money …
don’t think it’s given to retrieve something else …
nor is it given like winds that blow with mighty gusts
to spin you around or blow you away.
It is given by my human heart, a soft hand and a nervous hope
that the gift will please you and make you smile.
And here is the secret – if I give you something it probably means I love you,
But I won’t spoil it by actually telling you so.

© Poem and Photo by Carole A. Fults

Coyote Wind

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

Jan Wild Moon

Coyote Wind

Did you hear the wind last night
howling up the creek
whistling in the snowy, twig shaped shadows
of January’s full moon?

Did you see the moon
last blustering night
brazenly brightening the deep sky
dark of clouds?

One time, when the gale quieted
and all sound was frozen silent
I slipped outside in time to see
a Screech Owl fly stage front shrieking
“Wild, wild everything is wild!
Everything is wild!”

The wind rose again as I huddled under a tree
It pushed me through a tunnel
into the reckless freedom of space and adventure,
shattering the stale sameness
that orbits everyday life.
It sang a new way into being and then,
returned me to my bed, freshened,
where the barking spirit of Coyote
stalked my sleep
and dreams dripped into an awakened life.

©Carole Fults photo and poem

Bittersweet

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

Bittersweet              

A Perfect Storm

Once a six month storm tore at her shutters
a hot and turbulent wind
pummeled the untanned hide that sheltered the door of a dark cave
wherein lived one of the world’s most illiterate hearts.

As she allowed the wind to help her dance in the trees
Her toughened pelt became soft as velvet
and as pliable as priceless leather
limp, whipped and limber.

In the aftermath of the thrashing torrent
tears kept her hardness soft
and as she walked in the forest
she saw Bittersweet
strewn on the path under her feet
and she rested with her eyes wide open.

©Carole Fults photo and poem

The Storm

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

After-the-storm-_edited-1

 

                       The Storm

Watery wind battered our serene and wondrous landscape.
Fury, darkness, and destruction
were waged upon our bucolic home
as the world we had come to trust rose against us
and the lovely trees and friendly stones turned into weapons
and death came to our neighborhood through raging waters.

In the morning, in the quiet after the hurricane
a tiny buzzing like a bee outside the window,
a flash of a ruby throat
and neon body hovering in the air.
A hummingbird, all of an inch long,
appeared at the feeder,
his biggest need being for breakfast
and a quick trip to a neighboring Petunia blossom.

Where I wondered did he go for refuge in the storm?
How did he manage to live through the nightmare
that destroyed those much larger than himself?

And I think about the children who are battered,
deserted and denied –
where do they go for warmth and hope and loving hugs and safety?
They have, I hope, as does the hummingbird at my window
hearts born resilient
tempered in the fires of loss
and transformed by the power of truth.

©Carole Fults

Sun Salutation

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

sun salutation_edited-1

Sun Salutation

Bending like the body of a Willow
her limbs sweep the ground
and loosely dangle
Till straight up like a Sunflower
she stretches to the sky
caresses the birds and sometimes the clouds

Then, body parallel to ground
she opens and opens
until twisted roots untangle and align with the earth

Fastening her eyes on the horizon
she sees the sky blush as it receives
the first kisses of light

The life of dark time recedes
as lightness returns
revealing secrets hidden, now glowing
in the freshness of dawn.

She feels the sun awaken
as all things stand and bow
as she stands and bows in awe
at the return of grace
and to honor the light that lives within in her own heart.

This is called Sun Salutation.

©Carole Fults

A Short Encounter

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

tree-in-creek

A Short Encounter
I heard her before I saw her
body leaning as she attended
the lilt of a stream playing at her feet
amidst rhythmically clacking stones
a swing draped over one arm
deer signs nestled between her toes
proof of other visitors.
I caught her looking on
as I slowly stalked the center of the nearby labyrinth
but though she watched my slow progression
she did not halt her harmonies with the creek
or let loose of the wind
crooning in her boughs while some silly bird
yammered from his perch on her tallest limb,
some kind of avian rhythm I presume.
I heard and saw all of this as I rambled
along the labyrinth path
and when I reached the center of the puzzle
her spacious bones set loose a blustery breeze
and her old leaves rattled
as if applauding my achievement.

I bowed to her, my audience,
and as I withdrew
the creek, the wind, the bird and she
returned to their private world
where important things are known,
no one forgets to sing their part
and no one misses a beat.

©Carole Fults

 

The Complaining Cow

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

P1100231

My Life and the Complaining Cow
Lying on my back on my yoga mat
looking for insights on the ceiling
the way astronomers look for stars against the sky
waiting for that one instant when all will become clear.
And when the big solution arrives
there’s no band of angels announcing the coming of the answer
no star in the east, no light in the tunnel, no trumpets or gonging bells, no voice in the darkness
but here come the geese, again, and the complaining cow across the road
here’s the kiss of the fog and whispers in the shadows
here are phone calls from friends and the adoring stares of dogs,
here is unlimited biscotti,
a kiss from my sweetheart
here is my life.

©Carole Fults

Tree Pose

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

tree-pose

Tree Pose

The forest owns her
the ground anchors her
she doesn’t resist.
Her legs and feet
are stumps and logs
welded to her trunk.
Her hair rises to the clouds
that circle her top
and her fingers turn to leaf buds
at the ends of moving branches.
Swaying midst the rhythmic clacking
of greenery dried brown
She begins to hum and move her branches
up and up and up
Rain patters onto the forest floor
and her soles suck it up and feed it
to her shaggy, barky body
as her toes curl into the loamy soil
growing down and down and down
turn to tendrils that root in the earth
and make a home there.

This is called Tree Pose

©Carole Fults

Trees in the Ice

by carole, posted in Uncategorized

Trees in the Ice

Proof of Wind

Bits of evergreen litter the winter floor
white dunes of frozen drifted waves of snow greet her
like sand in an icy desert
Her bones dance clumsily down the path
as frigid air sneaks under her jacket
She was hoping to see a bobcat
but no other animals are up and about
except her and her companion
Even the birds are quiet as if the air has frozen their songs
pond waves do not slap, nor lap the shore
yet, she says, there is a presence here.
Not deer, nor bobcat
not bird nor bat nor bear
not even squirrel, fox, or beaver
Her breath is snatched out by air that flies around
from on high
a whooshing moaning sighing crying squeaking sound
whistling
Proof of wind
Evidence of spirit.

by caf

©Carole Fults