"When strapped for hope..." a Wordle Poem

When—strapped for hope—

your Soul fails to see the words behind calligraphy

When things of worth

seem bound to fall through the cracks

When the Cup of Salvation

tastes like tap water

Give thanks to the Lord

Call upon His name

Cry out to Him

For in the infinite space

He will raise the sun for you

And the Night will smile, her dark hair tinged with red

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

written for Wordle 361

"Like shepherds of the bygone days..." (poem)

Like shepherds of the bygone days
We heed the Angel from on high —
Our pastures left in disarray
As Bethlehem is drawing nigh

Like ancient Kings we scan the skies
Pack gold, and frankincense, and myrrh —
Unguarded our own kingdoms lie
As King of Kings descends on Earth

Like toddlers on our knees we fall
Inside the cave where in the calm
All sheep, all pastures, kingdoms all
The newborn child holds in his palm



Happy 4th Sunday of Advent, Merry Christmas Eve

Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Image: Unidentified artist. Nativity of Christ, 15th century. Oil (and tempera?) with gold leaf on panel, Overall: 17 3/8 x 13 1/4 in. (44.1 x 33.7 cm). BF362. Public Domain.

Let's Be Thankful for Those Things

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."


Philippians 4:8 King James Version (KJV)


Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Eclipse Poem

Eclipse

Today I am free. I’m a bee going back to its hive,
a spider destroying its web, the earth’s crust
pushing upward. I stand tall, rising
with the burning, aching,
irresistible
sun.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Happy April!

I've got friends near and far

I've got springtime in a Mason jar!

I've got hope, I've got love

I've got everything I could dream of

I've got faith, strong and true

I've got springtime in a jar for you!

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

"Strange Image": Echoes of William Morris' "November"

I meant to take a picture of this pumpkin, then realized I accidentally took a self-portrait :)

Here's my "face in the woods" creation (can you spot another laughing pumpkin in the lower left corner, and a somewhat stern looking creature to the right of me, leaning in and looking straight into the camera?):

"Yea, I have looked, and seen November there;

The changeless seal of change it seemed to be,

Fair death of things that, living once, were fair;

Bright sign of loneliness too great for me,

Strange image of the dread eternity,

In whose void patience how can these have part,

These outstretched feverish hands, this restless heart?"

--  William Morris, November

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

"When we are stricken..."

"When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all."

-- Hermann Hesse 

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Fall (square poem)

Leaves fall

Fall leaves

This couplet became part of a collective poem "Grass of Leaves" prompted and put together by David Lehman.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Falling (poem)

free for a shining moment brief

fall’s printed folded airborne leaf-

lets sail the blues on winter’s eve

let’s fail with grace, then take our leave.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

"The world's otherness..."

“The world’s otherness is antidote to confusion [and] standing within this otherness — the beauty and the mystery of the world, out in the fields or deep inside books — can re-dignify the worst-stung heart.”

 — Mary Oliver

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

A Kindred Spirit: Writing Spider

I spy with my little eye...

a yellow garden spider, and its prey...

Check out that zigzag web!

No wonder one of the names for this spider species is writing spider.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Little Sparrow (quadrille acrostic)

Little sparrow in the tree, locking beady
Eyes with me, tell me what you see I pray,
Are you scared? Why don’t you stay? I’ll pretend I’m
Very small, teeny-tiny (aren’t we all?) We will hide from
Every foe… Little
Sparrow, please don’t go.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

written for dVerse 

Image credit: Pixabay

Sunny Blues: A Day Trip To Assateague

crossing the bridge to Assateague Island, almost...

there!!!

after a day of this -- 

a gorgeous sunset farewell, till we... 

sea you again!

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

"All is vanity..."

"All is vanity, all falsehood, except that infinite sky."

-- Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace"

Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

"Bless the flowers..."

My son's trying his hand at poetry:

Bless the flowers,

Bless the bees,

Bless the kids with the dirty knees.

© Danny Palmer, age 10

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

A Cup Half Full: Meet Silphium Perfoliatum

Sometimes I see a garden, and it's beautiful, perfect even, but it does nothing for me. I realize and appreciate all the work that's been put into it, but I cannot help it -- if it doesn't pull me in, it just doesn't.

This is one of the gardens that pull me in.

I guess I'm more into the wild, natural, meadow-look.

I've planted grasses, and coneflowers, and I'm on the lookout for the dotted with tiny white blooms mountainmint, and perhaps bee balm's splashes of red to add to my garden.

One of the plants I've "inherited" from the previous owner of the house and yard turns out to be Silphium perfoliatum (cup plant) mentioned in the article I've linked to above:

See the plant that looks a bit like a green dove perching on a leaf behind the angel statue? Here's why it's called cup plant:

Apparently, native flies drink the rainwater collected in the cups, and birds feast on those flies. The circle of life. Moves us all.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Little Gosling's Rhymes

 

The grass is green

The rain is wet

The world is big

My feet—not yet

Someday I’ll be

A real big bird

I’ll grow, you’ll see

You mark my word

I’ll honk like Pa

I’ll have big feet

And walk my Ma

Across the street

Wishing all mothers a wonderful Sunday, May 8th.

Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

April Fools' Day: It's Snowing

April petal shower
fools with lucid snow
day dreams

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

shared on Poetic Asides 

White on Blue: March Skies

March azure skies stand tall

tree blossoms drift by --

fake clouds

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Nature's Hogwarts: Petrified Wood

my favorite exhibit at the Maryland Science Center

love this rock

never realized what it is

finally read this on my latest--field trip chaperone--visit

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)