Monday, February 2, 2009

A Bit of Warmth and Color


 It's Groundhog Day, a day when everyone, including that small furry rodent, considers how much more of this winter foolishness it is possible to endure.  I decided to take myself out to a local garden center and walk among the flowering houseplants.  They have an indoor pool with koi, and I visited them too.  The fish aren't fed in the winter, so when I agitated the surface of their world they rose, expecting a treat.  These altered photos are the results of my excursion.  I hope they bring you a smile.

I liked Lily Long's poem because of its joyous and optimistic tone.  I can't say that my dreams have been so pleasant lately, but I still like the feeling reading these words gives me.   

The Singing Place
by Lily A. Long

Cold may lie the day
     And bare of grace;
At night I slip away
     To the Singing Place.

A border of mist and doubt
     Before the gate,
And the Dancing Stars grow still
     As hushed I wait.
Then faint and far away
     I catch the beat
In broken rhythm and rhyme
     Of joyous feet, --
Lifting waves of sound
     That will rise and swell
(If the prying eyes of thought
     Break not the spell),
Rise and swell and retreat
     And fall and flee,
As over the edge of sleep
     They beckon me.
And I wait as the seaweed waits
     For the lifting tide;


To ask would be to be awake,--
     To be denied.
I could my eyes in the mist
     That veils the hem,--
And then with a rush I am past,--
I am Theirs, and of Them!
And the pulsing chant swells up
     To touch the sky,
And the song is joy, is life,
     And the song am I!
The thunderous music peals
     Around, o'rhead-
The dead would awake to hear
     If there were dead;
But the life of the throbbing Sun
     Is in the song,
And we weave the world anew
     And the Singing Throng
Fill every corner of space--

Over the edge of sleep
     I bring out but a trace
Of the chants that pulse and sweep
     In the Singing Place.

3 comments:

Margaret Ann said...

Love these photos and a smile they indeed brought. The image of you roaming through the garden shop brought an even bigger grin! Good for you! Nice poem too! :)

Teri said...

I'm smiling because I know or rather remember, exactly how you need these things in the winter in Wisconsin! :):)

Robert A Vollrath said...

The altered Koi photo is wonderful art.