ALL HALLOWS EVE

Photo by S. Auberle

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

A HUNDRED WAYS

Photo by S. Auberle

"Let the beauty we love

be what we do.

There are hundreds

of ways to kneel

and kiss the ground."

~ Rumi

(trans. by Coleman Barks)

ART WASHES AWAY...

~Stained glass by Ted de Grazia

"Art washes away

from the soul

the dust

of everyday life."

~ Picasso

ALIEN SIGHTING

Photo by S. Auberle

For the last two hours, thin people in bright clothing have been running past my house, down the long, golden tunnel of my road. The rain has finally stopped, the temp is 39 degrees, and earlier, a weak sun attempted to appear but it's gone now. The very thin people don't seem to notice or care. The looks on their faces are intense. The womens' hair bounces down their backs and I wonder what they're thinking of as they plod along for fifty miles. What it's like to be first? What it's like to be last? Are they running to something? Or away? I think of the times in my life I should have run...and didn't. Both ways. But that kind of thinking gets you nowhere fast, so then I begin pondering how not in shape I am, and how not athletic, and that gets you even less nowhere. Finally, after nearly three hours of nagging, non-specific guilt at watching these creatures, I think I know the answer--they are, clearly, not from this planet! A shiny, aluminum spaceship, under cover of yesterday's nor'easter, deposited them here, with the express purpose of inducing guilt. They're aliens! I mean, let's face it, who on this planet would, voluntarily, run FIFTY miles?

Okay, since that issue is solved, finally, think I'll go bake a pumpkin cake...

MEMORIES

Digital painting - S. Auberle

cold rain

this morning

slashing windows

whirling

yellow leaves

they say

snow is coming

tonight

i remember

how you loved it

what's it like

over there

where you are?

~ mimi

EASY IS RIGHT

Wall mural at the International Crane Foundation - artist unknown

"Easy is right. Begin right

and you are easy.

Continue easy and you are right.

The right way to go easy

is to forget the right way

and forget that the going is easy."

~ Chuang Tzu

(In the Dark Before Dawn, trans. Thomas Merton)

LONESOME THINGS, MAYBE

Photo by S. Auberle

a house

unlighted

but for one window

old sheet music

unplayed

since 1942

one dog

unquiet

barking at the hidden moon

last sailing boats

unoccupied

moored in the harbor

autumn rain

unwelcome

blackening the road

wet, red leaves

unappreciated

except in old love songs

~ mimi

REFLECTIONS

Photo by S. Auberle

After many years of questions and questings, I've concluded that there is, indeed, a heaven. It's right here on this planet of ours. Not any one particular spot, for every place has its own beauty. But now and then a new place comes into our life. Like this little village I found this past weekend, while traveling autumn roads. When you come into this place, a door closes behind you. Closes out all that frantic pace; wars; droughts; famines; disasters. You can breathe again. And you do. Serenity flows in your blood like the clear river winding through the village. Only in dreams have you visited a place like this. There are few people about...now and then a man and his dog; a woman strolling across a bridge. You want to lie down in the still-green grass, drink in the autumn colors until you are satiated with beauty. You want not to think. Just be. Until the door opens again and you must leave. But you had a taste of heaven. You had a glimpse, and that is what matters.

Monet's paintbox

there,

lying on the shore

HURT NOT THE EARTH

Photo collage by S. Auberle

"The care of the Earth is our most ancient

and most worthy, and after all,

our most pleasing responsibility.

To cherish what remains of it,

and to foster its renewal,

is our only hope."

~ Wendell Berry

SOMETHING FROM A POEM

photo by S. Auberle

"The kingdom of heaven is good.

But heaven on earth is better.

Thinking is good.

But living is better.

Alone in your favorite chair

with a book you enjoy

is fine. But spooning

is even better."

~ Li-Young Lee

~ from "Self-Help for Fellow Refugees"

poetry collection entitled "Behind My Eyes"

SO SOON COME

Photo by S. Auberle

so soon come

the shortening days...

fox fur

thickening

apples

beginning

to hang heavy

one maple already

turning

red harbingers

of the long white

to come

~ mimi

"Crow Ink"

WHAT IF

Artist Unknown

"What if imagination and art are not frosting at all,

but the fountainhead of human experience?"

~ Rollo May

The Courage to Create

Am very pleased to say that my writing may be found on the 100th edition of the fine e-zine, Quill & Parchment, which can be reached at the hot button below. Just keep scrolling down till you come to "Last Stand."

http://quillandparchment.com/members/memberink.html

If passwords are needed, they are (lower case only) :

october and eagle

Hope you can drop by for a visit...