Postcards from Paradise: Briefly it Enters, and Briefly Speaks

 

Briefly It Enters, and Briefly Speaks

by Jane Kenyon

 Octavio Ocampo “Mouth of the Flower”

I am the blossom pressed in a book,
found again after two hundred years. . . .
“Buddha” by Octavio Ocampo

I am the maker, the lover, and the keeper. . . . 
Wakeful Rabbit by Maggie Taylor

When the young girl who starves sits down to a table she will sit beside me. . . . 

 I am food on the prisoner's plate. . .

I am water rushing to the wellhead, filling the pitcher until it spills. . . .

The Patient Gardener by Maggie Taylor

I am the patient gardener of the dry and weedy garden. . . .

I’m Grown Up Now by Maggie Taylor

I am the stone step, the latch, and the working hinge. . . .

David LaChapelle

I am the heart contracted by joy. . .

the longest hair, white before the rest. . . .

Many Pretty Things by Maggie Taylor

 

I am there in the basket of fruit presented to the widow. . . .

 Ecstasy of lilies by Octavio Ocampo

I am the musk rose opening unattended, the fern on the boggy summit. . . .

Kiss of the Sea by Octavio Ocampo

I am the one whose love overcomes you, already with you when you think to call my name. . . .

~Jane Kenyon

(collected Poems 2005)

More about Jane Kenyon’s life here

For more Postcards from Paradise Please go to Recuerda mi Corazon for a heavenly experience!

Haiku My Heart: Fine Furry Fellow

“Fergus” by Noelle Renee 2011

Candle lit in hope

Prayers for a fine furry friend

Home in the Morning.

~Noelle Renee

 

My Little Fergus has been hurt. He was attacked by some wild animal outside and was bitten in the lower stomach. He fractured his back leg pretty badly possibly from a fall. They have cleaned the wound, anesthetized him sutured him, given him morphine and today they set his fractured  leg. He is still at the hospital with an I.V. and a lot of pain medication running through him.  They had to open up the fracture site because the bone was shattered so badly.  I have been very worried about him.  I feel so badly that I let him outside. He seems so sure of himself most of the time. He could barely move last night, he was in so much pain.

When he comes home I have to keep him in a crate for 6-12 weeks because he will have a cast and huge pins in his leg.Please  keep us in your thoughts.  He is such a special little kitty and I have so many pictures of him on my computer. He has been  such a buddy to me. I just wanted to let you know. The vet bill is prohibitive but I am working on finding ways to pay it over time. I am just very glad that he will be alright and will walk fine once the cast is off.

When I went to the vet today, they told me that someone had made a donation toward the bill. I couldn’t imagine who that would be, but it was my best friend of 25 years. I had been on the phone with her earlier in tears and she called the vet and put down $500.00. I started crying at the pet hospital when they told me, and I called her while I was still there. They were good tears though, the kind you have when you know someone cares so much about you that they do something completely amazing without telling you. I am very grateful for good friends. Thanks for letting me share this with you.

Peace and Light,

Noelle Renee

For More Haiku My Heart Please see Recuerda mi Corazon.

http://noelleclearwater.chipin.com/fergus-the-cat-get-well-fund

In Several Colors by Jane Kenyon

 

Every morning, cup of coffee

in hand, I look out at the blue mountain.

Ordinarily it’s blue, but today

it’s the color of an eggplant.

Jack Bogg

And the sky turns

from gray to pale apricot

as the sun rolls up

Main Street in Andover.

Photo by Denton Greenville

I study the cat’s face

and find a trace of white

around each eye, as if

he made himself up today

for a part in the opera.

~Jane Kenyon

“In Several Colors”

from Collected Poems

Cats ~ The Musical

Post 9/11 Healing between Two Mothers Who Found Forgiveness, Friendship and Peace

For Our World, a poem written on 9/11 by Mattie Stepanek age 11

in CONSCIOUSNESS

For Our World

We need to stop.
Just stop.
Stop for a moment.
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else.
We need to be silent.
Just silent.
Silent for a moment.
Before we forever lose
The blessing of songs
That grow in our hearts.
We need to notice.
Just notice.
Notice for a moment.
Before the future slips away
Into ashes and dust of humility.
Stop, be silent, and notice.
In so many ways, we are the same.
Our differences are unique treasures.
We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts
To nurture, to offer, to accept.
We need to be.
Just be.
Be for a moment.
Kind and gentle, innocent and trusting,
Like children and lambs,
Never judging or vengeful
Like the judging and vengeful.
And now, let us pray,
Differently, yet together,
Before there is no earth, no life,
No chance for peace.

September 11, 2001

© Matthew Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek 1990 -2004
from Hope Through Heartsongs, Hyperion, 2002

Mattie Stepanek was 11 years old when he wrote this poem on the day of 9-11.
Sadly he passed away in 2004 after a long battle with Dysautonomic Mitochondrial Myopathy.
You can learn more about his brief, amazing, inspiring life at his website:

http://www.mattieonline.com/

The short film you are about to see is an amazing testimony of forgiveness and a friendship forged between two women whose relationship might normally be one of great enmity. Their story is a miracle of peace and the product of two mothering hearts. Please Watch!

Film found on http://www.facebook.com/pages/CommonDreamsorg/32109457015

Postcards from Paradise: Blessings to All of our Mothering Hearts and to the Hearts of All Mothers

Mary Cassatt ~ The Bath

Mother,
Your voice learning to soothe
Your new child
Was the first home-sound
We heard before we could see.

 

Lilacs in the Window ~ Mary Cassatt

 

 

Your young eyes
Gazing on us
Were the first mirror
Where we glimpsed
What to be seen
Could mean.

 

Mary Cassatt ~ Mother and son in a boat

Mother,
Your nearness tilled the air,
An umbilical garden for the seeds
Of thought that stirred in our infant hearts.

 

The Boating Party ~Mary Cassatt

 

 

Young Thomas and His Mother by Mary Cassatt

You nurtured and fostered this space
To root all our quietly gathering intensity
That could grow nowhere else.

 

Mary Cassatt ~ Mother and Baby having Breakfast

 

Mother,
Formed from the depths beneath your heart,
You know us from the inside out.
No deeds or seas or others
Could ever erase that.

 

~A Blessing For Mothers from John O’Donohue

From “To Bless the Space Between Us”

This Blessing is For All Mothers, Living and Deceased and For All women and men as well in their Mothering Role ~ because mothering is done by teachers, coaches, mentors, therapists, siblings and friends. Moreover, there are some men who play the role of both mother and father to their children. All of us carry the Divine Mother within us. We only need to open our hearts to it and let it shine.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom.  I Miss You!

For More Postcards from Paradise Please Make your Way to Recuerda mi Corazon on this lovely Festive Day.

Haiku My Heart: Damsels in Distress

 

Edund Dulac, Cinderella

Fairytale Haiku:Cinderella

by ~EllaNyx
Tribulations overcome
The Prince is sweet, but an idiot
Small feet save the day

~Haiku found on DeviantArt.

In Every Culture, Stories of Damsels in Distress Are a Tradition Old As Time.

Sleeping Beauty by Henry Meynell Rheam

But Sometimes, the Act of Rescuing Another May be the One thing that Opens Your Heart and Renews Your Spirit

And the Person Whom You Believe needs Your Help and Attention the Most,

Damsel in Distress by Backlit Stranger

May Be the Very Same One who Offers You ~

John William Waterhouse (Tristan and Isolde)

the Grace and Purpose to Continue on your Journey With Love and Gratitude.

 

The film you are about to see is about a similar moment of discovery between two much younger people. Let it Open your heart to the possibilities of life ~ even when you may perceive them to be limited.

~Noelle Renee

My Favourite Things from kidswithcrayons on Vimeo. (Irish Film)

For More Haiku My Heart Go to Recuerda mi Corazon. You will be glad you did.

Share the Joy Thursday: The Story of a Sign

A Blogger friend of mine, Jenny Stevning, had the English version of this film, “The Power of Words” on her blog. I was so moved by it that I searched for the original. It is a film that shows not only the power of words to change human hearts but the power of compassion to change the lives of those who give and those who receive. This, in itself, gives me Great Joy!

The Story of A Sign

For other Sharing the Joy Posts please see Meri’s Musings.