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Posts from the ‘Spring’ Category

May 4

Golden Month, Moments Too

“Mornings in May, echoed with the call of cuckoos, sunlight glowed through fresh green canopies of trees.”― Meeta Ahluwalia

“Mornings in May,
echoed with the call of cuckoos,
sunlight glowed through fresh green canopies of trees.”― Meeta Ahluwalia

“At last came the golden month of the wild folk– honey-sweet May, when the birds come back, and the flowers come out, and the air is full of the sunrise scents and songs of the dawning year.”― Samuel Scoville Jr., Wild Folk

To never grow tired of flowers abloom
In awe of blue skies abound
In gratitude for sunrises and sunsets and the in-betweens
Spring unfolding, slow, brilliant, dazzling
Outside and mostly within
To begin again, be made new
In all seasons, in each day, the gift of springs.

“But why should the daffodils and tulips
Get all the praise and blessings?
My rebirth goes unnoticed- I am worthy
Of smiles and dazzled cries of worship.”
― Lea Malot, Coffins & Rhinestones

May 3

Spring Work Begins

"In spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." —Margaret Atwood

“In spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” —Margaret Atwood

“That is one good thing about this world…there are always sure to be more springs.”― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

Unapologetically walking in
Dirt embedded in her paws, face too
Hole expanded
Work done
Fun had
The dance of filling and un-filling the perennial hole begins
Spring delight
Lesson learned
Lighten up, put the world down, enjoy the journey
Go wear some spring today

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”― Rainer Maria Rilke

May 1

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Doorway to New World, Spring Threshold

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” – John Muir

“No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.” – Thomas Merton

April showers to May threshold to spring
Unfolding and unfurling
The world is greening, budding
Path to full bloom
Transition to transformation
On full display played
Do not miss the show
Get outside
Breath it in with all of your senses
Doorway to a new world, listening heaven
This day is your life
Participate, celebrate, cast light.

“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.” – Rabindranath Tagore

Apr 26

Width of Spring

“And for all this, nature is never spent; / There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

“ELECTED Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.”
― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

May you feel the width of spring unfolding slowly
The lift of dappled skies ablaze
The gravity of grounding in this day
The depth of silence
To witness and partake in the symphony of peace.

“Nothing is so beautiful as Spring-
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
(From “Spring”)”― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

Apr 16

The Cusp of Spring

“…new life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark

“To be human is to live by sunlight and moonlight, with anxiety and delight, admitting limits and transcending them, falling down and rising up.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark: Because Sometimes God Shows Up at Night

To beautiful imperfection
To joy in struggle
To falling, shaking it off and popping back up
To fresh air of spring with lingering winter breeze
To the dark where seeds wait, ruminate then break ground to seek and bask in light
To resistance then sweet surrender to change, growth, full bloom
Signs of life in unexpected places, thin spaces and wide-open fields
Rooted in winter, spring is springing, ready to bust at the seams.

“Time will explain” – Jane Austen

Apr 15

Transitions to Transformations, Spring Unfolding

“Healthy religion gives us a foundational sense of awe. It re-enchants an otherwise empty universe. It gives people a universal reverence toward all things. Only with such reverence do we find confidence and coherence. Only then does the world become a safe home. Then we can see the reflection of the divine image in the human, in the animal, in the entire natural world—which has now become inherently “supernatural.” That is the paradox, and all dualistic language will henceforth fail us.”― Richard Rohr OFM, The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”― George Eliot

Still dry and brown
But glimpses of what is to come
Buds, dots of green popping up
Growth surfacing
Proof of what is to come but not here yet
Pre-game of spring with winter cool still lingering in the air
Soft rain
Longer sun
Patches of color
Hallway between winter and spring
Lent and Easter
Before and after
Waiting, walking slowly to notice, signs of life
Closing in on the threshold to cross over
Transitions to transformations
Spring unfolding
Inviting us to do the same.

“Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.”— Rumi

Apr 4

Lilacs Under Construction

“Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity.” – Oscar Wilde

“A flower must bloom inside first before revealing its beauty to the world.”― Matshona Dhliwayo

Planting seeds.
Rooting in good soil.
Pruning for growth.
Waiting in anticipation.
The slow unfolding.
Winters to springs.
Transitions to transformations.
Order, disorder, reorder.
Seasons, circles, cycles.
Trusting the Gardener.
Spiraling up.
Preparing for bud, burst, bloom.
Lilacs under construction.

“Spring is here and my old joy blooms in the world.”― Steve Scafidi, For Love of Common Words: Poems

Apr 1

Varieties of Presence, Spring Awakening

“As Spring rain softens the Earth with surprise
May your Winter places be kissed by light.
As the ocean dreams to the joy of dance
May the grace of change bring you elegance.
As day anchors a tree in light and wind
May your outer life grow from peace within.
As twilight fills night with bright horizons
May Beauty await you at home beyond.”― John O’Donohue

“At any time you can ask yourself: At which threshold am I now standing? At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? What gift would enable me to do it? A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms, and atmospheres. Indeed, it is a lovely testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience or a stage of life that it intensifies toward the end into a real frontier that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. At this threshold a great complexity of emotion comes alive: confusion, fear, excitement, sadness, hope. This is one of the reasons such vital crossings were always clothed in ritual. It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds: to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward. The time has come to cross.” – John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

Seasons, transitions, transformations
Thresholds, frontiers of before and after
A foot on each side, past and present, winter and spring
Between ashes and Resurrection
Spring and Lent holding hands together
Walking the external and internal journey
Of reflection, waiting, seeding, tending, blooming
Slow walk, road unfolding a step at a time
Glimpses of spring
Calling forward to cross over soon
Buds breaking ground around the corner
Beauty for ashes, joy too

“Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!” – Sitting Bull

Mar 27

Springtime Advent

“Wonder. Go on and wonder.”― William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury

“Oremus

…Let us listen to the sound of breath in our bodies.

Let us listen to the sounds of our own voices, of our own names, of our own fears.
Let us name the harsh light and soft darkness that surround us…
The world is big, and wide, and wild and wonderful and wicked,
and our lives are murky, magnificent, malleable and full of meaning.

Oremus.
Let us pray.” – Pádraig Ó Tuama

To be here and now
Fully
In the mess, chaos and the beauty
The in betweens
Not winter but not spring
The advent time of spring
The brown sure to turn to green with April rain
Followed by the first bloom to break ground and burst into color
Anticipation. Reverence. Presence.
Springtime Christmas is coming soon
Outside and in
To walk with joy, delight, wonder
Especially in “the longer than we want” waiting seasons
The what’s next
The transitions that lead to transformation
Trust the process and go on and wonder in the meantime.

“The only place to begin is where I am, and whether by desire or disaster, I am here. My being here is not dependent on my recognition of the fact. I am here anyway. But it might help if I could learn to look around.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

Mar 22

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Sweet Smell of Dirt

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood

“As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness — just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.”― Laura Ingalls Wilder, Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Wisdom and Virtues

Winter to spring dance
Dirt softening to growth
Get out and put on some spring
A walk in the woods
Wrestle in the back yard
Mud on the forehead
Dirt embedded in your feet
Grounding in ordinary days
With extraordinary gratitude
To be right where you are
Delighting in this day
The unfolding of a thousand springs.

“For a day, just for one day,
Talk about that which disturbs no one
And bring some peace into your
Beautiful eyes.”
– Shams-al-Din Mohammad Hafez, The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems Inspired by Hafiz

“Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm.” – John Muir

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