The turmoil of this world will not diminish
the beauty of the earth we call Gaia
nor will it dampen the spiritual heart
though the fear of the unknown harbors
doubts, remorse and pain the sun will rise
to reveal clarity of what is tangible
Image Taken From Public Domain Photos & Digitized As Art
Waking from a soundless, dreamless sleep
with only a ticking of a heart still beating
a new valve seven years young and still
urging its’ recipient forward a moment more
toward one more day on a well tread path
crickets chirping in a heat clandestine
unknowing if Fall leaves denote a changing
until night turns all into blackness and cold
brings down a dark velvet curtain quietly
waiting to take center stage a new beauty
where in the distance a train faintly heard
a rumble of a giant it’s metal wheels screeching
along heavy metal tracks as it approaches closer
a whistle increases as it signals its’ movement
closing the distance, announcing its’ presence
changes always distant yet closer than they seem
a ticking heart broaching an unknown surface
turbulence increasing in colors bracken unclear
still seeing in the distance reds, yellows, oranges
counting with each tick of the heart another day
© Renee Espriu
Above Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art
There can be a tempest within my soul
on days where I’m unable to see the light
from a sun that is surely bathing me
in the heated glow of its’ rays
yet there are those days when the rays
of brilliance from that same sun radiate
through me and fill the day with bird song
song that touches every living creature’s
being with two legs to four legs to none
for even the tree feels the vibrations
in trunks, branches and fluttering leaves
leaving me in awe of it all, of the mystery
of the unnoticed brilliance of communication
the musical enhanced scores all around us
those are the days I again recall the words
whose magic enables me to speak from my heart
where the wordsmith rises again within my soul
a mystery e’er but the ocean tempest is stilled
© August 2021 Renee Espriu
Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art
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
© November 2020 Renee Espriu
Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures and Created as Art
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
© Renee Espriu April 2020
This Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art
To be cleansed by the salty brine
of the ocean’s ever incoming surf
is like being one with the conch
being held on the empty sandy shore
waiting for the waves gently lapping
its’ beauteous shell
to feel cleansed, to be whole
you can be still within the pain
the suffering you hold
be embraced as the conch is washed
clean and listen to the ocean
within your heart
© December 2019 Renee Espriu
This Image Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art
Light reveals as much as we allow it to
when we open not only our eyes
but our heart
then our spirit soars and life
takes on new meaning
where colors are no longer dull
in shades of gray
but filtered brilliance
as in a rainbow after
a storm
it opens up a place deep
within our soul
big enough to hold all
of the wonder
where there are no boundaries
this place is us
me and you
this place is where life
flourishes
this is where I can begin
to know and accept
who I am
© September 2019 Renee Espriu
Image Below Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art
Music swells up like mighty ocean waves
cleansing the sadness of my soul
permeating my thoughts
to quell the firestorm
within my mind
to which my dreams find me walking
along a sandy tided shore
each grain of sand sparkling
diamonds in a beam
of moonlight
a vestige matching my footprints
each one a solid reflection
of a path only I have walked
in heartache, despair
& triumph
before the salty brine of tides
comes to collect them again
to assuage each painful step
becoming an alchemist balm
a freeing spirit
© August 2019 Renee Espriu
Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art
The tall piece of bamboo sets in the corner
as though keeping the walls from colliding
with the aboriginal turtle in mustard yellow hues
keeping a silent vigil, a respite, as the rain
signals a force of nature outside my window
I am reminded that I am a creature of water
my molecular being silent within a human shell
the wonder of a million droplets from a cloud
forming a single raindrop is mind boggling
as they gather in rhythmic action
creating puddles, streams, rivers, waterfalls
cascading exponentially into vast oceans
a home for other water beings living
within a life-giving force
and I listen in amazement at the symphony
that brings life to the earth I live on
where brilliant colors of flowers bloom
in gardens tended and meadows flourish
on mountains
replete with nature’s abundance of creatures
beasts walking the land and flocks of birds
taking flight tenured with bird song
am I not enraptured to know my heart
still beats within its fluidic capsule embrace
of the water that holds me ensconced
in safe keeping
that when the rain thus ceases its’ melodic sounds
the bamboo stick awaits but my touch
yearning to recreate rain’s wondrous music
the timeless aboriginal turtle
warm beneath my hand
© May 2019 Renee Espriu
Background Bamboo Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Overlain With My Take On Aboriginal Turtle Art
Hindsight is always better it is said
always invoking in me the transgressions
in my past of the egregious kind
conceived into an ethnically diverse family
curious of the differences, yet both drawn
and repelled like a moth to a flame
one of only a handful of such families
in an all-white neighborhood
though I did not distinguish it
then
my reddish skinned father and white mother
craving more but for unspoken reasons
spoken in private understanding
she from impoverished beginnings
he in accepting only European roots
agreeing upon only one thing in union
the dictates of societal norms for me
a child of the female persuasion
that marriage is best accepted sooner
than later & children are part of the
sanctioned outcome
but mind you if such an arrangement
is not a path upon which you wish to tread
then only professions of nursing
and teaching will suffice
for creativity in writing or artistic endeavor
will never sustain you in living
and you would know this
in hindsight
now in hindsight I only understand that
not everything that comes before
is better than that which
comes later
in hindsight I wish I had known that
choosing the passion of your heart
over being accepted
is what my path
Should
Have
Been
© Renee Espriu May 2019
Photo Taken From Public Domain Pictures & Created As Art
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