This Side of a Freeze By Deb Fenwick You have one last stop to make. The holidays are approaching, and you have one final card to mail. A quick stop at the post office, and you can tick the box and check that task right off the list just before dark hits at 4:30 on a December day. Parking strategies are key here, and when you find a second-tier one across the street, you grab it. You’ve got layers. Layers of fleece and GORE-TEX, even a new hat, to insulate you from temperatures that are just this side of a freeze. You cross Lake Street when you first see him. He’s just a little older than your daughter. He’s standing outside the main entrance near the flagpole as you approach the mailbox box with your stamped envelope—with your contents safely sealed inside. You see him approaching. He’s tall, and he…
Category: Sparks
Memorable writing that sparks imagination.
Rinse Cycle
Rinse Cycle By Brenda Bellinger Remember when we used to rely on weather forecasts that were broadcast with our nightly news? We’d get a good-enough sense of when to expect rain from the fuzzy satellite image. Many years ago, I used to ride the bus to work. At one of the stops along the way, a cheerful woman named Marilyn would board. She had Down Syndrome and would always greet everyone before settling herself into a seat toward the front. Occasionally, she would bring her umbrella. If Marilyn was carrying her umbrella on a bright sunny day, you could be assured it would rain, even if it hadn’t been predicted by the weatherman the night before. Who could have imagined that one day we’d have phones that would tell us precisely when rainfall would begin and end based on our location? Yes, it’s convenient and often very helpful but I…
Finding Peace
Finding Peace By DS Briggs When in Switzerland I wandered into a large ornate cathedral. The choir was singing. The voices soared with the organist’s notes. I didn’t understand the language but sitting in the back pew I felt entranced and relaxed. I live with a lot of silence within my home. I don’t usually have the radio, tv or music as background. I don’t know why. Habit? Or just a need to keep calm. I have experienced calmness in walking outdoors. I was on the dog path, walking Boo. I heard a splash in the creek. I saw a pair of ducks swimming, dipping and eating with their bottoms-up. I took time to watch how the sunlight dappled the creek and how the brilliant red-leafed tree stood out from the myriad of greens and browns. I just stood, leash in hand, and looked. I enjoyed the calm while I…
Flood
Flood By Karen Ely A riddle is a bridge. A bridge to the truth, arching over the angry, churning river that is our nation’s canker. The howling denials humiliating trials of fact versus fiction 0ur country’s affliction. And the riddle is this: What lies on the other side? A people of unity, Indivisible or a new status quo leaving gospel invisible As we strive To thrive Keep hope alive Compromise. Calm the beast and keep the peace. Cross over that muddy sludge On a one lane bridge Feet dry Expectations high. Looking for the promised land, The pot of gold, The rainbow’s end. Yet the river remains. Always raging Turning the soil Trumpers loyal Ready to spill over the banks and flood the fields of honest, hard-won crops. The hatred never really stops. Perhaps we need a dam. Karen Ely was born and raised…
Sounds Of The Unheard, A Connection To Self
Sounds Of The Unheard, A Connection To Self By Joop Delahaye Silence: The perennial challenge in my meditation practice. Tara Brach says that that is the real draw for her now in her meditation practice. I am not sure if that is true for me. I have been attracted to the sounds of the usually unheard things when “normal” sounds are absent. That has been something I have paid attention to most of my life. No planes overhead, no 101 traffic, no Petaluma Creamery machinery, no dumb drivers going west on B Street. No leaf blowers or power washers! What is there when these are absent? What is there now? Swaying tree branches, birds in my neighbor’s old tree, the wind. The “thermal compressions” I have heard for years. I have learned to listen for it, to it. This sound became a barometer of my connection to self, to the…
Silence
Silence By Kathy Guthormsen A blanket of pristine snow glistens on the grass, while windows glow from warm fires inside Ice frosts peaked rooves, softening their lines The village waits in silence A brightly lit Christmas tree sits in the square Streetlights glow under a darkening sky The village waits alone There are no people singing carols No children laughing and building snowmen before going inside for cookies and milk The village waits alone in silence Fretful silence Fearful silence Frantic silence Pregnant silence Palpable silence Potent silence Reflective silence Ruminating silence Resilient silence Tacit silence Tactful silence Total silence Silence between heartbeats Silence between breaths Silence between impulse and response The villagers shelter cautiously behind closed doors, alone Some have been taken by an insidious virus And grieved for in silence The villagers are gone But the village awaits their…
Winter Solstice 2020
Winter Solstice 2020 By M.A. Dooley To re-build beauty we split the wood Don’t split the hairs, it does no good To build more beauty, we light the flame The kindling catches, we say the names Of those we love who went beyond They shaped our lives, they’re never gone Reflection first, then put it away Forgive, don’t forget, make up one day Let go the work, the world of greed The rules of day, the ego needs Gathered in darkness wait for the light Beauty glows on faces this fire lit night The circle round holds hearts and dreams, Tears fall for loves no longer seen The year was wrought with judging and pain Hindsight 2020 the last refrain Awake on the longest night, the fire Releases suffering and unmet desires This invocation is for you, You represent your sisters…
English as a First Language
English as a First Language By Ken Delpit If I could learn a foreign language that I currently do not know all that well, I might choose English. That’s silly, you might say. You’re writing in English now. What’s to learn? This is a legitimate question. Allow me to explain. My comprehension of English is OK much of the time. I can get by. Once in a while, it may approach pretty good. In disturbingly frequent other times, though, even moderate fluency is sadly lacking on my part. For example, I would like to learn the English spoken by people whom I do not understand. Crazy as their thoughts might be when heard by my ears, I would like to hear those thoughts through theirs. Or, among everyday geniuses, when people reveal astute perspectives or brilliant insights, I would love to grasp the language that gave rise to those sparks….