Renee Espriu

February 10, 2021February 10, 2021

The Tenacious Nuthatch

A Winter storm approaches closer each day
signaling with freezing temperatures
as ground hardens impenetrable
until frost appears with daybreak

covering roofs, cars, asphalt paved roads
while the sun causes it to sparkle
like millions of microscopic jewels
settling on all of Nature’s surfaces

there comes the squeaky notes of tiny
nuthatches hidden amongst branches bare
of leaves, perfectly still not moving
feathers fluffed in staying warm

the thought enters my mind I wonder
where will they shelter as the snow
begins to fall but I know as soon
as the melt comes as if by magic
they will return

Photo Taken From Public Domain Photos Created As Art

January 17, 2021January 17, 2021

An Earth Older Than Time

The world revolves symptomatic of that unseen
that becomes the invisible nemesis of people
on a planet named earth so old the beginning
of which cannot be counted in grains of sand

for there is not an hourglass large enough
to hold all the countless grains needed
to account for all that came before
for all that will come after

to enable mortal beings a bit of knowing
just a small cushion of comfort
telling all that live here

they will always be like
babes in the wood
unable to measure up
to countless millennia
of black holes starless
universes unknown

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Create As Art

December 22, 2020December 23, 2020

A Dance of Planets

The Christmas Star shone brilliant
in the evening star for many eyes
to see but hid it’s brilliance from me

for Saturn & Jupiter danced in tandem
on a stage sprinkled with a universe
of stars holding court for them

and I stepped into the predawn light
to see a night sky littered with stars
applauding a new day in dawning

The Image Below Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

November 1, 2020December 23, 2020

A Child’s Request

The shadow of leaves from a tree
dance across the house next door
but in the darkness of last eve
only the children’s shadows
poured

dressed in Halloween costumes
finer than any Hallows Eve before
they came and kept leaving their
ghostly imprints on concrete
floor

smiles and laughter challenging
fears of a society that they
would dispel as though magic
were in the air and fear
just queerish

a memory of one small girl
a costume only a thin cloak
her words uncovered for she
asked for only a hug
nothing more

my heart was warmed
by her gesture
of which I obliged
in loving
measure

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures and Created as Art

September 12, 2020September 12, 2020

Faded Color & Brilliance

The horizon is a dismal gray
air polluted with the finest
of ashy particles
blown by the wind
many thousands of miles
from fires on the coast
announcing the arrival
of fire season

momentarily I make a note
as I sit in a friend’s garden
with paints & brushes
ready to create color

my eye is drawn to weathered
metal sculptures that eventually
might appear to fade
into such a sky as now

but when my canvas is complete
it will portray a creature
that can blend & disappear
if it chooses to engage
in such transformative
ventures

but within my brush strokes
I color him brilliant
erasing years of rust
& faded paint

he makes me smile inside & out
so I temporarily forget
the horizon before me
for the air will again clear
& I will move forward
once more

The Art Below Is My Own

June 26, 2020June 26, 2020

The Amber Mirror

The paradoxical algorithms of life
speak of birth and death colored
with a beginning and an end
both caught within the shadows
of rules, mandates and laws

tasting and speaking of freedoms
both ‘masked’ in lies and deceit

a truth hidden behind closed doors
spoken in silent unheard whispers
seen through the eyes of the faceless

while the legends of time and history
move between the spaces of passions
where wisdom is a time honored truth
where love of others and of self
is the resin that frees them

an amber mirror that reveals life

The Photo Below Created As Art

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020

A Dance of Trees and Bossa Nova

The clouds black in the distance
with patches of blue sky mingled in
as the clouds migrate close overhead

big fat drops of rain are resounding
everywhere they are hitting
with a big plop, a splat, being replaced
with millions more in their place

as I listen to the gentle, smooth refrain
of jazz and bossa nova I watch intently
trees in the distance are seemingly
swaying to and fro, branches lithe
leaves tremble as though listening

when it is the wind of nature’s breath
that propels them in their dancing
gives them the moves of the bossa nova
the rhythm of life as if speaking to me

what a glorious day to just be alive
to absorb your sounds of music playing
as we flutter to the peaceful strains
in synchronous harmony with the wind

The Image Below Is My Photo Created As Art

May 29, 2020May 29, 2020

Ever Widening Circles

Ever widening circles of life contained in the circles that grow fading one into the other like the stone skipping across the water, leaving traces of the promises that remain

reminders of the moon waxing, waning but ever present, even in the darkest sky, the blackest night like the tides coming in high receding back again low

amidst seasons repeating, growth new and amazing, fullest in Spring leveling out in heat of Summer

colors vibrant in the arrival of Fall giving way to fields fallow in the cold of Winter beneath icy waters blankets of snow

only for new leaves to awaken new buds to bloom for the circle that is unending to grow once more

there will always be the circle of birth, life and death as there will always be the impediments of destruction by nature’s wrath & beauty

there will always be disease, famine, unwelcome pestilence and epidemics as they seem to impede, dissuade & deter us from moving forward

always there will be the circle of life & everything a part and people will move forward, move past and move through

for when I see the birth of babies, seeds being sown in gardens, fields and when it begins to snow again cottonwood seeds, to be planted where they may, I marvel

at the ever widening circles of life

Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

A Circle of Life

April 12, 2020April 12, 2020

Waking to Life

Being alive, feeling alive is
having been awakened
Being alive, being awake
All feel as having been
resurrected

The sun’s rays shining brightly
as the brisk morning is
late of frost diminishes,
relinquishes, is vanquished
& is gone

So life is new and all signs
of disease and suffering
begin to recede into
the distance
of my being

The future awaits brightly
as a glimmering beacon
admonishing gently
to not fear

for everything right is still here
& will be here in the blinking
of an eye, in the fluttering
of a heart beat new

in all that is a gift we can see
in each breath we take
in all the beauty of nature
if we but take time
to see

This Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art

April 12, 2020

Quote by Rumi

RUMI

Your way begins on the other side
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall,
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.

I find this quote to be so telling, so true for each and everyone that is letting fear drive them during this difficult time. For the fear each one has fashioned is but a prison wall from within and each person needs to look to the other side. For it is there freedom resides.

Take care and be well all.