Buckets of Beauty

Everywhere

wild violets peering into the garden

Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit –
Invoked or not invoked, God is still present.

~C. G. Jung had inscribed over his doorway,

Rose Garden – Easter Sunday

Tulips, hyacinths and anemones all arrived in time for Easter dinner.

Life Anew

Lemon mint

Spring, Easter
life anew
for trees, for birds
and yes, for you.

You’ll see it in a thousand ways
as minutes burst into whole days.

Rest in that beam of sun
and know
another sunbeam soon will show.

Even when clouds come in between
the sun is there
though just unseen.

So thank God for
the things you see
and for those that you know to be.

And watch as He reveals to you
a whole creation
bright and new.

Happy Easter!

©2013 Sharron R. McMillan

Hope Full

I am without legs.
I can not stand
upon the pillar of cynicism
that society pretends to worship.

I am without arms.
I can not hold together
that which is determined to fly apart.

I am hope
and I dwell in the hearts of those
who choose me.

I move their minds, their thoughts,
to live a better way,

Hope full.

©2004 Sharron R. McMillan

Labelled Boxes

Photograph: Sharron R. McMillan

Boxes… labelled boxes,
Conservative, Liberal, American, Jew, Baptist, Aries, middle class,
Irish, poet, rich, poor, white, green …
we huddle together in the box we are most comfortable in
because we are the same,
we belong.
It is comfortable and safe
until a different box empties near ours.

‘They’ try to fit in, we reluctantly make room.
‘They’ are different. ‘They’ are not like us. It is uncomfortable. It is ‘their’ fault.
We must show them how to change in order to be acceptable.
Remove your label. Put on ours. Promise to be committed, loyal.
Show us that you are. Do what we do.

Don’t ask questions. Don’t complain or criticize.
Don’t suggest we change.
We will enlarge our box to accommodate you.
We will help to make it comfortable and pretty.
Just stay inside our box, wear our label and you will be safe, accepted, loved.

You don’t want a label?
But you must wear a label!
How will anyone know who you are, where you belong?
You don’t belong in a box?
You think you are larger than any box we could put you in?
You dump out boxes and destroy labels?

You are dangerous!
We aren’t safe with you around. We must rid ourselves of ones like you.
You are not loyal nor committed.
You are a rebel, a trouble maker, a shit disturber.
We must destroy you.

Here is our label for you,
“Jesus – King of the Jews”
and a borrowed box to bury you in.

©1986 Sharron R. McMillan

B.C. Rain

From streams on mountains
to rivers below
on to the ocean
water will flow.

From ocean to clouds
then it all starts again
life-giving cycle
of BC Rain.

©1978 Sharron R. McMillan

Life

When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate.
And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.
~Anmol Andore

My Heart is Fixed, it is My Mind That Wanders. . .

What is true
what is real
what I see
or what I feel,
the questions burn
a crooked trail
though heart is strong,
mind is frail.

I straddle lines
that mark the way
one step,
which foot
will lead
today.

There good,
here bad
there in between
where I can see
what is not seen

imperfect human
lives in me
this my heart
knows perfectly.

©2016 Sharron R. McMillan

Leaning Into Life

Like the cedar leaning precariously
towards light,
roots pulled from what anchors it,
risks uprooting completely,
I too lean toward the elusive
goodness of truth.

Most trees, content to grow straight and tall
accept the space they’ve been given,
stunted from lack of light but
not yearning for anything.

But I and the cedar
see something more
that appears within reach
if we bend toward it,
let go of more,
be content with less
in the hope that what remains
will nourish and sustain
our awkward position
of hope.

©2015 Sharron R. McMillan

Hope

 

Blue rock found in the woods

Hope is not a dream but a way of making dreams become reality.
~L. J. Suenens

Being You

Hyacinth in Herb Garden

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
~Joseph Campbell 1904–1987

Sweet Violet

Violet (Evergreen Yellow) Viola sempervirens
Means: Urban happiness

Wild Flowering Currant

Thi

Wild Flowering Currant

This is a wild flowering currant, the only one surviving of four we transplanted from the power line over 40 years ago. It comes back every year.  Love it!  Means: “You please all.”

Rose Garden Through the Months – April

Rose Garden April 3, 2019