Tuesday, April 24, 2012

"rise up, rooted..."


“If we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up
rooted, like trees. ”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

she sent the photo
one summer when all the
days were
dry with august heat and dust
and hope-filled dreams
of lullabies, and rain, and evening
breezes off the
coast of
Maine

I'd long
loved her whimsy,
her colors,
her ability to make me
want to sit on a dock and
sing to the stars
surrounded by a long lake
and the call of
loons...

she sent the photo
with a family of
small paintings...
magical dancing shapes,
a swirl of periwinkle
a magenta moon in a sky of
pear green

small summer moments captured
in watercolor
and laughter...
each one a treasure

but it was the photo
on which she wrote a
simple note that
I first framed...

a photo of a writing desk,
a wooden chair,
an orchard...

a place for
listening

a place where apple blossoms
fluttered around my
thoughts like
butterflies and poems
gathered in
the branches like
sparrows, while
honeybees
brought the future
to kiss each
deep-throated
bud with
the promise of
liquid gold
and life..

an orchard of silent,
gnarled,
ancient
crones who
still loved wearing
flowers in their hair
each spring
and whispering encouragement
to nestlings
perched along their branches
seeking courage
for a
maiden flight...

each night I'd ease myself
into the space
within the simple frame...

I pick my way through
tall grass towards
the slender chair,
where
i'd tuck barefeet
beneath me as I waited for another
stanza to filter through the
branches and fall lightly
on a weathered desktop

there, beneath the dappled
light of orchard days
I gently gather them
into my hands

and lifting them close
breathe deeply

perfumed words as
delicate as the colors of
a memory in
sepia...

an orchard,
a wooden chair,
and a writing desk...

a private
retreat...

an artist's
sanctuary

shared with
love...

"...her deep roots
are not reached
by the frost."
― J. R. R. Tolkein

[photo and inspiration by friend...and remarkable artist...jacqueline Janecke]

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