Hope

Hope

Hope spring eternal in the human breast
and in the flower beds. 

Reflections

Pond on our Sunday walk

My hope is to reflect the beauty around me,
rather than ugliness and destruction.
Like the puddle and the pond
if I care to gaze long enough to see
not what is on the bottom
but what it is reflecting, magnifying,
and trying to show me.
Might as well look for the loveliness
in whatever form we can find it.

©2020 Sharron R. McMillan

Southeaster

more firewood

Southeaster wind howls through the woods
twisting branches till they fall,
cracks and thunks, we hold our breath
a tree falls over, roots and all.

We never get used to winter storm’s rage
as we huddle indoors once more
fear and thankfulness coincide
firewood delivered to our door.

©2020 Sharron R. McMillan

Signs of the Times

 A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘You are mad, you are not like us.
~Abba Anthony

Happy 50th Anniversary to a Very Special Couple

You two show that with a sense of humour and love of adventure
happily ever after does come true.
Wishing you unending love.

Live Peace, Speak Peace

Peace Lily

“To live without speaking is better than to speak without living. For the former who lives rightly does good even by his silence but the latter does no good even when he speaks.”

~Abba Isidore of Pelusia

Solitude Is A State Of Mind

 

“There are many who live in the mountains
and behave as if they were in the town,
and they are wasting their time.
It is possible to be a solitary in one’s mind
while living in a crowd,
and it is possible for one who is a solitary
to live in the crowd of his own thoughts.”

~Amma Syncletica

Pond Is Full

Lots of rain has filled the vernal pond. Looks so pretty when it’s full.

Wet Coast Scene

Mossy Hollow Log in our woods

Vistas

Look past
ferns and saplings,
between
cedar and maple
where sun
illumines something
further away than eyes can see.

Vistas
in woods
and life,
distant points
you have yet to explore.

Go there,
moving always
towards unseen prospects
or points of view.

©Sharron R. McMillan

Oranges in January

I don’t know if the cold kitchen has shocked it into producing but our little orange tree has
flowers and oranges on it at the same time.  Smells lovely and reminds me spring will come again.

Grandma Tree

Poor Grandma tree,
the weight of snow and howling winds
were too much to bear.
The second limb this winter has fallen to the ground.
What remains still stands
tall and straight
after more than 800 years
of standing sentry in our woods.
May she survive many more winters.

©2020 Sharron R. McMillan

More Snow

Towhees, Juncos, Stellar’s Jays
and hummingbirds
are thankful for food
we put out for them.

I feel like opening the windows
to let them all in,
but Mocha
would not be
quite as welcoming.

©2020 Sharron R. McMillan

 

 

Guardian of the Chocolates

My World

Out there,
in the big world,
is sorrow, sadness,
turmoil, and sabre rattling
but here
in my woods
is only beauty, love
and peace.

©2020 Sharron R. McMillan