Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 29, 2014

Posted under

Poetry

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23 Comments

Walden Ponders

We can never have enough of nature.

— Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Turquoise-tailed baby bluegills tickle our toes.
The scent of pine and wildflowers wafts to my nose.
Purple loosestrife and asters dot the green wayside.
Children splash, fishermen cast, not even fish can hide.
Green-dappled water buoys and refreshes tired mums,
Dragonflies eat mosquitoes, and ants carry off crumbs.
Thoreau wrote of being alone, but that was far in the past,
Instead lots of people hike, fish, swim, play and eat a repast.

Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Note: We visited Walden Pond today, and had a great time! I hope you had a great day, too. 🙂

Reference: Thoreau Quotes from Walden

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 24, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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27 Comments

Moonflower

Pretty moonflower,
Tattered and chewed,
Still you glow sweetly,
Each night renewed.

Note: I called this flower a moonflower, not because it’s the moonflower morning glory, but because it’s a flower I found glowing at twilight, under the moon. It’s a clematis. I hope my poetic license is up to date. 🙂

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 20, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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27 Comments

Seabird Sentinel

Seabirds dip and dive,
Catching crabs and fish.
A seagull watches children play,
From his lonely perch on the sand.
He lives always in between,
On the edge between sea and land,
Soaring far above them both,
Never joining in the games.
His hoarse caw echoes
Past the dry curls of seaweed,
Mingling with the salty air.
Sometimes, on the inside,
Each of us is like that seabird,
Watching others play,
Outside, on the edge of other things.
And yet, what would the sea be
Without the seabird, standing watch?
Each of us is needed, ever part and apart.

Note: I dedicate this post of all those affected by the two lost Malaysian airplanes, one found (MH17) and one not (MH 370). My heart goes out to the victims and their families. We are all needed, and their loss is our loss.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 19, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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48 Comments

Stonehenge by the Sea

Rocks protrude, waves crash,
Mist embraces the shore.
What giant moved these rocks here,
To fight the tide and battle time?

This enchanted place calls to me,
Like Stonehenge by the Sea,
A crossroads between the past and future,
Nothing settled, always changing.

Even the sky changes in a heartbeat,
Water battling earth, air carrying their cries:
Elemental soundings, missing only fire.
Magic enfolds, perhaps the fire is in me.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 18, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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39 Comments

Redwood Giants

Peace in the redwood forest primeval,
Cell connectivity is lost: thought without interruption.
Wandering beside ancient giants,
Glen temperatures were low and cool.

I gaze up to the sky, invisible under the canopy.
The tops of trees are lost in a bright, green blur.
My children and I hunt for gnome homes.
Dark places keep their secrets, as we stay on the paths.

Yet magic is in the very air, all things seem possible.
From the green twilight, we spy a glade,
Emerald grass shining with the first sunlight seen.
Surely the fae dance there, shimmering between worlds.

Notes:

Distances are deceptive in the photograph: the tiny bit of blue is a tall man, nearly swallowed by a distant curve in the path.

The oldest tree in Muir Woods is 1500 years old, born the year 514: it’s parent would have been capable of being born 3000 B.C., a distance in time to us unfathomable, yet only one generation apart in the forest primeval. Perhaps the spirits of the ancients still watch from beyond this world.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 16, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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26 Comments

Visual Haiku: Grandeur Grown

Notes:

This is a visual haiku, or a picture that implies something rather than revealing it explicitly. To me, this photograph makes me think about the things missing: the tree’s connection to the earth and the sky. It’s so immense even the sun is implied rather than revealed. A camera can capture only a tiny section. For scale, I left a person in the lower right corner.

For other examples of Visual Haiku, you can look at Robin’s Egg, Shadow Painting, Tenacity and Come and Gone.

Edit, this photograph also dovetails nicely with Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, which I have been admiring. This week is Wood or Season of Spring. Thanks for all the beauty you inspire, Cee!! And for the community you build and for all the FUN!!

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 15, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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47 Comments

Heart Tree

ancient fires
burned deep into the heartwood,
yet the tree lives on

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 11, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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47 Comments

Rose Petal Path

Another might have taken the path less traveled,
I walked the path strewn with rose petals.
Perhaps the roses faded, and the petals blew away,
But each step crushed the scent into my fiber.
That day has made all the difference to my life.

References: The path referenced in the first line is from a famous poem I will reprint here, courtesy of The Poetry Foundation, with my own yellow wood.

Note: The poem is dedicated to my hubby, a fine man in every way. I’m also posting it in honor of my hubby’s friend who is marrying tomorrow.

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 10, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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49 Comments

Fairy Ballerinas

Arms curve gracefully,
Petal skirts twirl open in full circles.
Heads dip, legs stretch,
Fairy divas grace the garden,
Entrancing bees and butterflies.

Magic is scattered by dance.
The four winds lift the ballerinas high;
Down they touch, light as kisses.
Too fast for the eye to follow,
Fairy smiles unfold like wishes.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 9, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

Comments

38 Comments

Fairy Ball Gowns

Once upon a perfect night, unclouded and still,
there came the face of a pale and beautiful lady.
The tresses of her hair reached out to make the constellations,
and the dewy vapours of her gown fell soft upon the land.

— Kit Williams

Designers of fairy couture collections
Grow the very best gowns ever worn,
Lacing perfect petals into dashing confections,
Borrowing starlight to gild and adorn.

Queen Peony, in her ball gown,
Casts the smaller ladies into the shade,
When she dances, in her shining crown,
Hearts are kindled and dreams made.

References: Brainy Quotes

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 7, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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60 Comments

Joyful Heart

Fairies gladden, sharing beauty,
Fences cannot hold them back.
They dance in and out of spindles
Spreading magic along their track.

Happy Monday! I’ll soon be traveling and changing time zones, but I will still be in search of magic. May you find some in your life, too! My heart shines with joy at beginning a summer adventure. I hope you go adventuring, too! And I have discovered the joy of compression bags and packing cubes. LOL These are quite magical things not unlike Hermione’s beaded bag in Book 7 of Harry Potter. How I long for Hermione’s beaded bag… What are you longing for?

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

June 27, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

Comments

56 Comments

Sisters

Sisters, hearts of joy, click of belonging made,
When together, united and unafraid,
Thoughts blooming,
Possibilities looming,
Memories of sharing and love never fade.

Dedicated to my sister, who was taken away from me far too long ago. I miss her every day. And to all my newer sisters, may our sisterhood forever bloom!!