Picture Galleries

Ester 1

What a lovely thing to see:
through the paper window's hole,
the Galaxy.

- Issa, c.1800

KJ 1

ODE TO AN ERRANT BOUGAINVILLEA

Waving wildly in the wind,
Thrusting thorn-laced branches in
The path of one who came to find
A secret known to few.

Not petals here that loudly call
And wrap around what's very small.
Within those three-part brackets hide
True flowers deep inside.

Magenta clusters call me near
To scentless beauty I don't fear
Unless these boughs begin to dance
To rhythms I can't hear.

Go flail your arms and make a racket,
Boast the beauty in your brackets,
Catch me once more and I'll hack it
Right down to the ground!

A gardner knows to trim and groom,
That wild things can't have all the room.
But train? Contain? This plant, not ever!
With threats to prune...it blooms.

Karen Jacobs, 1993

C Robin Janning

sunset casts
a golden glance
over cities of chaos
around hearts of stone
singing a lullaby of
crickets and frogs and loons
as the Artist of Creation
begins to dream
tomorrow

Rain 1

Once the colors were
sunset red, hunter green
the deep indigo of a summer night.
There was a sky filled with light--
and a promise.

If I had painted you then
it'd have been with that crooked grin
the teasing glint in your eyes
when I knew what you wanted--
only I didn't.

Now other colors demand their time
colors for the mourning after.
Black, grays and browns.
Dark colors, yes, but to remind me--
of reality.

Dreams can bring it rushing back.
There is your touch against my skin;
then the moment you walked away.
I could paint it all today--
but I won't.

Hashi

I have watched your smile in your sleep
and I know it is the boat
in which my sun rides under the earth
all night on the wave of your breath
no wonder the days grow short
and waking without you
is the beginning of winter

Brenda

Chuck

Think Like a Tree

by Karen I. Shragg

Soak up the sun
Affirm life's magic
Be graceful in the wind
Stand tall after a storm
Feel refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring
Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky
Be still long enough to
hear your own leaves rustling.

Neil

Jean

from evening mist

the bell

of life passing

--Issa

Brenda 2

Jana

Ah Sunflower

Ah Sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller’s journey is done;
Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves, and aspire
Where my Sunflower wishes to go!

--William Blake

Janice

Karin

TWENTY-ONE

The greatest virtue is to follow Tao and Tao alone.
The Tao is elusive and intangible.
Oh, it is elusive and intangible, and yet within is image.
Oh, it is elusive and intangible, yet within is form.
Oh, it is dim and dark, and yet within is essence.
This essence is very real, and therein lies faith.
From the very beginning until now its name has never been forgotten.
Thus I perceive the creation.
How do I know the ways of creation?
Because of this.

Lao Tsu, The Tao Te Ching
(passage 21)
6th Century B.C.

Jean 2

Beckoned by shadows

of what's gone or what's to come

- so hard to know which.

Brenda 3

Jean 3

Look

both ways.

Still not enough.

Maryanne

Meander slowly
sweet brook of quiet waters,
refreshing and pure.

BRENDA 4

Flame of love,

I gave myself

to Love Divine.