CHRISTMAS EVE

Print by S. Auberle

I first posted Fra Giovanni's "Letter to a Friend" on Christmas Eve, 2008.  But, though it was written long ago, in a far different world than this, I think it's important and beautiful to post again tonight.  I hope you think so too..

I salute you.  I am your friend and my love for you goes deep.  There is nothing I can give you which you have not got.  But there is much, very much, that while I cannot give it, you can take.  No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today.  Take heaven!  No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instance.  Take peace!  The gloom of the world is but a shadow.  Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.  Take joy!  Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty...that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven.  Courage then to claim it, that is all!   And so I greet you, with profound esteem and with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.

~  Fra Giovanni, Christmas Eve, 1513

JITTERS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Photo from an old Johnson Bros. Plate engraving


sometimes I think I would have liked living back in Victorian times...like this photo, but then again, probably not...anyway, here's a brand new poem (written this a.m.) about living in these crazy days...

JITTERS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

So I'm sitting in Jitters
having a half caff/half real
and a chocolate hazelnut biscotti
while waitin for the serpentine
belt to be replaced on my Saturn.
The car wizard said the belt
has 111,000 miles on it
and could go at any time,
sort of like all of us, I guess.
On the other hand, I'm sure
there are serpentine belts
slithering along at 211,000.
Who ever knows?

Outside the temp is hovering at 22 degrees.
Inside Nat is singing about roasting chestnuts,
the Cookie Lady is baking away
and a guy in a Packer's jersey
is talking about relationships.
Is that the same as love, I wonder?

Coffeeshop ponderings--as meaningless
(or maybe not)
as pondering the life of a car or a belt.
I consider sharing this profundity--
asking the barista, the Cookie Lady,
the man in the Packer shirt--
tell me, are you happy?  and if not, can I help?
Or maybe I'll just walk back up the hill
to pick up my 111,000 mile Saturn
wearing the bright, new, classy, serpentine belt.

NEARING SOLSTICE

Photo by S. Auberle

NEARING SOLSTICE

This morning there were twenty waxwings
in the rowan tree outside my writing room.
The tree's berries are bright
red     cheerful.
Yesterday they danced in snowy gowns
while the wind swirled off the lake.
Today each berry hangs quietly, waiting
to be consumed by hungry birds.

Darkness by four o'clock now
and the ever-shortening days whirl past.
We cook comfort dishes--beef stew,
garlic potatoes, bake chewy, dark bread.
There will be wine--red, like berries
and we'll be busy as the birds
storing up food and warmth
while the earth turns toward darkness, but still
finding time to be of good cheer,
savor the meat, the salt and the bread,
dance another of our days away.

Something there is
that says you must know:
we were here...
and oh, how we loved.

yes, back on line again...at last!  Still not sure how this new computer works, but at least I can post this...an old poem from "Crow Ink."  Wishing you all a warm and blessed Solstice...

HOME AGAIN

Photo by S. Auberle

Home again, at last, after an adventure that I wouldn't care to repeat.  Heading to Phoenix for a family Thanksgiving, my partner became seriously ill out in the New Mexico desert (at the Very Large Array) where this photo was taken.  We managed to get to Show Low, Arizona, to the Summitt Healthcare Regional Medical Center, where they (literally) saved his life.  After emergency surgery and a week in the hospital, we were able to return, getting out of the West just ahead of a massive storm.  Thanks to all the wonderful people at the hospital and old friends and new friends we met during the experience.  I've no doubt your candles, prayers, sorcery, magic, incantations brought us through!  As an added bonus, I returned home to find my computer had crashed, so will not be on this blog for awhile, but that is minor in the whole scheme of things...
peace and blessings to all..