Friday, November 21, 2008

tranquility


in this busy season
take time
to slow down
on the inside
and let tranquility
find you

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

on a wing and a prayer

hawk and sparrow
came to my window
one flew in
one flew by
the hunted and the hunter
one seeking shelter
the other a meal
ain't that the way of the world?

Monday, November 17, 2008

little girl on a golden isle

i'm a little girl on a golden isle
running the halls
of that old hotel
tasting an exotic kind
of freedom
that haunts me
to this day
you asked the boy
with the surfboard
to give me a ride
in the deep end
of the swimming pool
the morning water so cold
and i was so afraid
but more afraid
of disappointing you
you hated to fly
and yet you hired a plane
to take us over the island
i felt the mix of
fear and butterflies
until i saw them
the wild horses
running on the beach below us
and i was enchanted
never wanted that ride to end
thank you for that gift
was that your secret
to feel the fear
and do it anyway
i learned to swim
in the deep end
now
i'm learning to fly

Sunday, November 16, 2008

over the rainbow

the wizard of oz is on tonight! don't you just love a movie you can watch a gazillion times and it's still as entertaining as the first time you saw it? there's a short list of movies like that for me...to kill a mockingbird, tootsie, gone with the wind, yours, mine & ours, chariots of fire, driving miss daisy ( you know that scene at the end where morgan freeman is feeding jessica tandy her pie - omg, i cry every time.)

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Thursday, November 13, 2008

intricacies

i think i found the faith
you lost along the way
the one you said
you didn't believe in anymore
it was so fragile,
corroded with rust
still i knew when i saw it
that it was yours
it made me sad
to see it laying there
discarded
like so much trash
i had to retrieve it,
but it turned to ash
in my hands
i scattered it to the wind
the way i did your remains that day
but the wind has a mind of her own
i stand now
as i did then
covered in your dust





Tuesday, November 11, 2008

transformation

looking down
i see the ground
i crawled upon so long
husks of waiting
are everywhere
and the sky is full
of freedom

Thursday, November 6, 2008

dancing in the light

i've always been something of an extremist, so while you might think this mandala, dancing in the light, is a departure from my typical style, it's actually just the other end of the spectrum that resides within me.

i love ballet. as a little girl, i took lessons at madeline walker's school of ballet. i was odd girl out in a mirrored room full of smooth haired buns, pink tights and black leotards. i still remember the excitement of recital nights...the pastel hues of scratchy, stiff, sequined tutus...the intoxicating smell of spray painted ballet slippers mingling with the musty smell of the heavy velvet auditorium curtains. for a few magical hours i was cinderella at the ball.

then, as now, i inhabit a body built for comfort not for speed. but inside of me there lives the long, lithe body of a dancer...a ballerina girl dancing in the light.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

dreaming in color

i love to dream in color
vivid, bold and bright
i dream in living color
almost every night
my pillow becomes a canvas
my dreams provide the light
as the colors from my dreams
find their way to waking life

Saturday, November 1, 2008

a three legged chihuahua


we're having pancakes this morning, and my history and discovery channel-loving 15 year old son says our three-legged chihuahua, jimmy, wants to do the iditarod. we laugh good naturedly at the thought of our beloved jimmy out there mushing with all the sleek sled dogs. actually, jimmy has four legs, but only three work the way god intended. as a puppy, jimmy had been abused and neglected. he came to live with us through the wonderful work of the chihuahua rescue league after we saw a picture of him in our neighborhood paper.

what does this have to do with making mandalas? well, that's how i feel sometimes - like a three-legged chihuahua in a highly competitive race. admittedly, i have my own list of "challenges" - some might call me a late bloomer to be picking up a brush at 48, but, hey...at least i'm blooming! this mandala is called the journey. yeah, this artist-life is my own personal iditarod...i'm not "in it to win it" - but i am enjoying the ride.