Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Blue Sky Moment




Sunlight pierces the fog at 11 a.m.,
and patches of blue sky appear
above the brittle bare-branched trees -
an interruption midst 
the relentless gray  of December
in this mountain-encircled valley.

A heron graks,
then lifts off
the topmost branch
of Grandmother Cedar.
I watch his huge wings
rise and fall, rise and fall,
as I head toward the house,
(smoke spiraling from the chimney),
with another armload of wood
for the fire.

I wrap amber sunlight and trees
around me like a prayer shawl,
as I enter,
and count my beads
of gratitude.

For Kim's prompt at Verse First: Gifts and Blessings

31 comments:

  1. I'll take a blue sky moment. It is so gray here these days. Herons do grak...love that.

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  2. Yes, Sherry, it is always good to feel gratitude foe what has and what sees....and to consciously realize just how many blessings one has! An uplifting write!

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  3. you have a beautiful prayer shawl...just saying...smiles...love the scene of the heron...living among all that life...its a beautiful thing.

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  4. Oh, the wrap is gorgeous! I feel grateful too.

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  5. "wrap amber sunlight and trees / around me like a prayer shawl" nice. If I could only jump into this poem and wander around for a few hours.

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  6. vivid! and what better way can be than connecting with nature to count our beads!

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  7. Beautiful Sherry...the connection you have with nature is so inspiring

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  8. Wonderful, Sherry. I know life isn't easy for you but you can always plumb its beauty.
    Luv, K

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  9. This describes those almost indescribable moments when one feels so connected to something greater than self - it does fall like a shawl about the shoulders. Lovely.

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  10. Sherry, I can hear the heron 'grak' and see the amber sun rays pierce the gray through the fragile limbs of those barren cedars. yes one mor arm load of firewood while you wrap this lovely moment around your shoulders and add a bead in the now tender string of life

    I think I smell the water the wet brush and the trees, mi amiga.

    also I echo what gila_mon said...if I could only jump into this poem and wander around for a couple of hours...

    nice moment, mi amiga

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  11. Beautiful Sherry! I want a shawl just like yours~
    I love the peaceful feel of your captured grace

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  12. Beautiful. The idea of sunlight and trees as a prayer shawl is so serene. I loved the imagery throughout.
    -HA

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  13. I love the alliteration in the first verse..crackle like a fresh fire..all such magical imagery..yet grounded..can't help leaving feeling warm..

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  14. oh sherry, this is so beautiful, so tender, so sacred.

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  15. So many beads of gratitude that you always find outdoors and share opening our eyes to nature's beauty!

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  16. what a wonderful prayer shawl you have....the poem has such a calming effect on mind....beautifully meditative....

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  17. How wonderful. Nature - a prayer shawl. Its beads cause for gratitude. Beautiful write Sherry this poem is a prayer itself.

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  18. Sherry,

    I love that you have painted such a scene for me. It feels a perfect place to have reflection, with the shawl and beads...Nature offers such beauty, as blessings.
    Hope all is good with you Sherry, as we approach the festive week.
    Eileen:)

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  19. this is really special, Sherry. and i love your word choices... "midst" and "grak." nice!

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  20. The place in your poem sounds like paradise.

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  21. love that place in your poem... it is a great gift...

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  22. Love that you used "Grandmother cedar".

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  23. like a prayer, especially the final stanza ~

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  24. "I wrap amber sunlight and trees
    around me like a prayer shawl,
    as I enter,
    and count my beads
    of gratitude."

    Wonderful lines..wish I could write them..:-)

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  25. " I wrap amber sunlight and trees
    around me like a prayer shawl,"

    Beautiful lines.... thank you

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  26. we should each look upon each day and the life that we interact with as a blessing.
    Sherry enjoy the warmth and glow of the season

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  27. Yes, the greatest gifts and blessings are to be found in nature.

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  28. Love the metaphors of the grandmother and the shawl!

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  29. Your words take me there...a compliment to your talent!

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