HERON IN WINTER

Photo by S. Auberle

I saw her today,

blue on blue on blue--

ice, sky, bird.

She was stepping slowly

onto the frozen pond

and how, you may ask,

do I know the bird was female?

It was just a look,

a topknot of feathers

ruffled in the cold,

the way she stood so still

as I passed near.

There seemed to be a connection,

(a poet's fancy, no doubt)

of eggs and nests and nurture,

a connection in the season

when bird and woman

must leave safe ground,

step out onto that place

where our old faces

shine back at us,

new and full of light,

though we feel unsure,

but strong, because

it's what we have to do

sometimes, to survive.

The sky is a mirror

beneath our long legs

but oh, beautiful sister,

where will you sleep tonight?

~ Sharon Auberle

(An old poem, revisited, from my book Crow Ink, Little Eagle Press, 2009)

Also, very pleased to announce a poem of mine over at http://www.yourdailypoem.com/

check it out, if you have a chance.

MISSING THE MOMENT

Photo by S. Auberle

"The sin of inadvertence, not being alert,

not quite awake, is the sin

of missing the moment of life.

Live with unremitting awareness."

~ Joseph Campbell

MAYBE A POEM WILL COME

~ Photo by R. Murre

Maybe a poem will come

to me today

and I'll paint the words,

shape the page into a boat

like those old Chinese poets did,

launch it

on a floe of blue ice.

Or I could fold it

into a red-crowned crane,

whirl it up into

fading winter winds,

my bright dream of spring...

~ mimi

TIME FOR BUTTERFLIES

Photo by S. Auberle

"There is nothing in a caterpillar

that tells you it's going to be

a butterfly."

~ Buckminster Fuller

TWO PORTRAITS

Self-Portrait by S. Auberle

The poem hasn't yet arrived to accompany this eerie self-portrait with one of my heroines, Georgia O'Keeffe. I'm hoping it will soon. It was sunset and there was this wonderful red light...

FORTUNE COOKIE

Photo by S. Auberle
Okay, so this morning, lying in bed, these words pop into my head, seemingly from nowhere, but now I wonder if there isn't some wise old Oriental sage running around in there, who knew that this morning I was going to find out that yet again, I didn't win the $2,000 prize for a poem that I was hoping for, and yet again, I was going to get disgusted, which is, of course, ridiculous, especially when it comes to poetry contests, but nevertheless, I keep on, and so one more time I didn't win, but here's the kicker...out of all the prizes--$2,000; bunches of $200 and $100 dollar categories, I was included in the very next category DOWN, some "Very Highly Commended" or some such thing, which includes not a penny of cash...so here's the words that just preceded this rather annoying start to my day:

any path

wisely trusted

will succeed

(sounds like a fortune cookie and I didn't even get to eat one...)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

"The Kiss" - Photo collage by S. Auberle

BECOMING

"It takes a long time

to become young."

~ Picasso

KOAN

Encaustic Wax Monotype - S. Auberle

Snow on the south side

is melting tonight

in brown patches

scattered among the white.

Smoke rises

from the neighbor's house

joining a cloud

drifting over the mountain

where snow still lies deep.

I imagine Ryokan,

the Zen monk,

two hundred years ago

in his solitary hut,

a fire made only of leaves

that blew to his door.

His brush shivers

across the precious paper:

Evening in the deep mountains

all covered in white snow;

I feel everything vanish,

yes, my soul and body too...

The snow is melting tonight

in brown patches

scattered among the white.

Smoke vanishes into a cloud.

Why should we lament our passing?

~mimi

ALMOST ALWAYS

Photo by S. Auberle

almost

always

the

kindest

thing

is

to

let

go

~ mimi