Morning’s Gift

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

The rising sun traces

outstretched elm branches,

kisses budding tips of topmost twigs

with a warm, bright white glow

like lit candles

honoring this new day.

Wrens and cardinals chip and chirp,

overjoyed with the spreading warmth of sunrise,

with the fresh gold-green fringe of hackberry,

butter yellow buds of forsythia,

delicate white dogwood,

show-off pink azaleas

and whispers of a gentle breeze.

I step outdoors to sit in the sun,

to breathe Spring,

to be witness to silent, stretching leaves,

to birdsong and bloom.

But they need no witness.

It is I who need this,

I who need to witness

their existence,

their persistence,

their extravagance.

It is I who need this hope

of a new day.

– kh –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week—lily of the valley:

Shadow of the Week—A windy downpour left a puddle on a plastic tablecloth and tossed leaves onto it. When the sun came out, the floating leaves cast this shadow:

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A Rush of Richness

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush

The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush

With richness.”

– Gerard Manley Hopkins, “Spring” –

Nature of the week:—pear blossoms:

Shadow of the Week:

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Winter Passes, Nature Wakes

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Happy Easter!

“Winter passed away;

and spring,

led by the months,

awakened life in all nature.”

– Mary Shelley –

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Welcome, Spring!

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Look how after the devastating winter

the new blossoms have covered the thorns,

look how tall the cypress has risen in glory.

Spirit and water have graced the rose garden

Enhancing its beauty.

What a blessed companionship!

– Rumi –

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – a bird ornament on top of a shelf of plants:

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Living Gold

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Live thy Life,

Young and old,

Like yon oak,

Bright in spring,

Living gold;

Summer-rich

Then; and then

Autumn-changed

Soberer-hued

Gold again.

All his leaves

Fall’n at length,

Look, he stands,

Trunk and bough

Naked strength.

– Alfred, Lord Tennyson –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – flags at the zoo:

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The Wings of Spring

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Birds in the green of my garden,

Blackbirds and throstle and wren,

Wet your dear wings in the tears that are Spring’s

And so to your singing again!”

– E. Nesbit, “May Song” –

Nesbit’s poem reminds me of a quote from Victor Hugo: “Be like a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing that she has wings.”

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – a vase of peonies that a neighbor left for me on my porch:

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Whispering to the Crocus

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

…Winter still is in the air,

And the earth troubled, and the branches bare,

Yet down the fields to-day I saw her pass –

The spring – her feet went shining through the grass…

she has whispered to the crocus leaves…

She would not stay, her season is not yet,

But she has reawakened, and has set

The sap of all the world astir…

– John Drinkwater, “The Miracle” –

Listen for spring’s whisper, and breathe deeply of the quiet hope of a world astir.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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They Will Come Again

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“They will come again, the leaf and the flower . . .

Nothing is certain, only the certain spring.”

– Laurence Binyon –

“The Burning of the Leaves”

Take courage. Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. And carry the calm.

Nature of the week – a rose in a street flower market in Hanoi:

Shadow of the Week:

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Nature’s Pulse – and Our Own

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Everything new and pure

in the very prime of the spring

when Nature’s pulses were beating highest,

and mysteriously keeping time with our own!”

– John Muir –

Pause for a moment of peace, and notice a bud, a bloom, a spring-green leaf. Take a deep breath of the day. Match your pulse to nature’s energetic peace. Nurture that peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

Nature of the week – “tulips” in the tulip poplar: