Filling in the spaces

I can never resist
singing the Joe Scruggs version of
"This Little Piggy"when giving my mother-in-law
(what a funny name for someone you love)
a foot massage, tugging her toes,
one by one until the last little piggy.

The same song I sang to
my babies, a long time ago.
I wonder if she sang a similar
song to her children, an even longer time ago?

Remembering is harder these days.
Sometimes when we talk
it's like she gives me the dots,
little glimpses of her past,
and I have to draw the lines between.

The end result might not be an
accurate rendering of her life.

But here's the thing -
it's still a beautiful picture.

A moment can be enough

There is a place where I like to pause
on my evening walks.
A moss-covered mound that always
beckons me to stop.
So I do.

Tonight, responding to the invitation,
I lift my hands to the sky,
following the tree trunks pointing to the clouds,
and sing a line from a song
breaking the stillness around me.

"Create in me a clean heart, oh god"
I pause before continuing
and in that pause I'm gifted with a response -
two hoots from an owl. And again.
Close by, but I can't see it.

"Renew a steadfast spirit within me"
Another pause, another hoot,
this time from the other direction.
The branches of the western hemlock
and Douglas fir are all I see.

"To my prayers you've always given heed"
Finally I see one of the owls, but only
because it takes off from its perch in the canopy
and heads to its companion.

There, I see both of them briefly.
Only for a moment.
But when you are paying attention,
a moment can be enough.
If you are gentle and careful,
it becomes a gift.

A gift I can share with you
through this rough attempt at a poem.
So I do.

Bleeding hearts & forest fairies

Today after work, I took my worries
and my two dogs
out back behind our house.

I crossed two creeks
and climbed through the woods
past the imaginary line
that defines our five acres.

The stinging nettle and salmonberry
had gotten a jump on the weather.
Made me wonder if the peace
I was looking for could be found
in the thorns and brambles.

-------

Leaning against an alder
at the edge of the pond,
smooth bark against my back,
I noticed that I sat down
on a clump of bleeding hearts.
Trampled into the ground,
yet still beautiful somehow.
A lesson there if I'm willing to learn.

Sitting with my face toward the sun,
eyes closed, breathing deeply.
Listening to the stillness.
There, I found myself
closer to the peace I was seeking.
But not quite.


------

Walking back along the trail,
with the light fading,
a rickety wooden table catches my eye.
"Tea for Two" is the name we have
given this place.
For my young neighbor Willow, it is magical --
where forest fairies leave trinkets
and treasures for her to find.

A small glass vase sits on the table,
it was empty when I walked by earlier,
Now it is filled with woodland flowers.

A kindness left for me to find
exactly when I needed it most.