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January 1, 2015

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Found Magic

Sunset-glowing mums
Cast an earthy magic
Over a vanilla day.
My blue mug steams,
The bitter scent of green tea
Mingling with honey’s sweetness.
The calendar suggests newness.
January First: a new morning,
A new chance, a new start, a new dream.
Frozen grass crunches underfoot and
The sky is blue, clear and cold.
My breath steams like my mug:
Superheated for a magical brew,
Making all things seem new.
I resolve to find magic,
In any small detail, new or old,
Find magic and learn to take hold.

Note: Happy New Year to all my friends!! These blooms are thanks to Trader Joe’s, a magical place.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

December 24, 2014

Posted under

Holiday, Photography, Poetry

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57 Comments

Gingerbread Joy

Snow lingers in spun-sugar drifts
On gingerbread houses: my spirits lift.
Such a colorful display of cake and candy
Makes the world seem sweet and dandy.
Even though holly bushes are snow-bare,
The winter season gives magic to share,
As children, near and far, laugh and play
Because Santa Claus can’t be far away!
Whether you feel reverence at a birth,
Or making kids happy brings you mirth,
May your days be full of surprises and joy,
Like a holly berry, saved for a fairy’s toy.

Merry Christmas!!

Note: This amazing gingerbread house was part of a display at Wilson Farms in Lexington, MA.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

December 20, 2014

Posted under

Holiday, Photography, Poetry

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44 Comments

Happy Solstice!

Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.

— Hans Christian Anderson

Bare
Trees yearn.
Setting sun
Whispers farewell.
Fall sleeps and winter stirs.
Winter Solstice parties
Shine fairy lights on all who dance
And sing.

Note: This poem is a concrete poem. The poem takes a shape related to its subject matter. The Christmas Tree tradition is a lovely way to celebrate the longest night, with lots of twinkling lights, inside and out. Historically, pagans and pre-Christians decorated at midwinter with evergreen boughs. Decorating a tree became a popular Christian tradition in Germany in the 1800’s. Queen Victoria and her German husband, Prince Albert, later made tree decorating popular throughout the world.

The Winter Solstice in my neck of the woods is Sunday, December 21, 2014, 6:03 p.m. EST. North of the arctic, you get no sun at all, and south of the Antarctic Circle, they have the Midnight Sun, or 24 hours of sunlight. Either place is too cold for me. I’ll take my 4 p.m. sunset.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

December 15, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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25 Comments

Frost Enchants

Thousands of frost stars
Twinkle on every fallen leaf.
The sky is an aching blue.
Balsam intermingles with spruce.
Diamond dust paves the autumn path
With glinting winter magic:
Sparkles in each sunlit step.
In shade, the wildwood is quiet.
Cold frost rimes the fallen log.
Breath is visible, and runners steam.
One ray of weak sun is enough to
Blind, dazzling the senses.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

December 12, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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31 Comments

Winter Wonderland

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream-
Lingering in the golden gleam-
Life, what is it but a dream?

— Lewis Carroll

Alice frosts pink fairy cakes
And carries them on amber platters
To the party in the tippy-top of yews.
Icing sparkles with snowflakes:
Tea party treats for mad hatters.
Alice pours tea and lets guests choose.
The Red Queen chases drakes.
Feathers fall amid snowy spatters.
The Cheshire Cat grins and chews.
White Rabbit calls “Land sakes!”
The March Hare nods and natters.
Not a few party guests snooze.

Note: In addition to getting the holidays in hand, I have a new project. I am now offering Fine Nature Art prints for sale on Society 6. Your purchase would help support Friendly Fairy Tales.

Have a magical weekend!

Warmly, Brenda

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

December 10, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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34 Comments

Evergreen

If you get simple beauty and naught else,
You get about the best thing God invents.

— Robert Browning

The
Opposite
Of greening
Must be browning.
Cold settles into fibers
And olive-brown blooms,
Likewise the heart slows,
Older passions fail to flow.
Snow settles on fading green,
Leaves sagging with resignation.
Even the pungent sage withers.
Yet, the possibility of vitality
Withdraws into the roots,
Lingers to bloom again.
But not love – love is
Evergreen.

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be.

— Robert Browning, Sage and Poet

Note: This poem is a concrete poem, about leaves, in the shape of a leaf.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

December 8, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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45 Comments

Winter Goddess

Tiny snowflakes fall like stars.
Crystals twinkle on my boots,
Glowing with spun-sugar magic.
Jack Frost dances just out of sight,
Sending temperatures plummeting.
Infant-flakes lay cradled in russet leaves.
Snow flurries billow like the
Translucent skirts of a Winter Goddess.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

December 1, 2014

Posted under

Poetry

Comments

40 Comments

Luminous Gold

sunlight on grass
spun into gold before me
we are all stardust

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

November 29, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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45 Comments

November Rose

pink November rose,
sweet-smelling fragrance rises
perfumes dreams of spring

Note: The snow has arrived, and we are eating chocolate-chip oat cookies and apple crisp. We taught the boys to play hearts, and having fun. I hope you are, too. Blessings to all!

Note 2: Unbelievably, I wrote this post yesterday, and I ran out of time to post it before other duties called. Then Michelle Marie wrote her post for me, that I reblogged today, and it’s as if she knew!! She is psychic!

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

November 24, 2014

Posted under

Holiday, Photography, Poetry

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41 Comments

Giving Thanks

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.

— Albert Einstein

storm wind gusts
shakes leaf from its anchor
it falls, giving thanks

Note: Happy Thanksgiving to those in the United States, and Happy Fall to everyone else. This was inspired by the air spirits in the Carpe Diem #611 Haiku challenge, Sylph.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

November 20, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

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19 Comments

Catkin Fuzzy

Catkin fuzzy, catkin round,
Hiding there without a sound,
Are you there to amuse
Or are you there to confuse?
You look like a tiny teddy bear,
Huggable and light as air.
Perhaps you hide baby fairies,
Sleepy from eating mulberries?
Does a woodpecker tap tap tap
Or just perch there for a nap?
Would you rather be a dogwood tree
With spiky fruit and tree esprit?
You cannot be just a shrub!
You keep your secrets, that’s the rub.

Note: I have been trying to get a catkin in focus in a photograph for over a year! Woo-hooo!!

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

November 18, 2014

Posted under

Photography, Poetry

Comments

46 Comments

Crowned Cats

Echinacea seedpods,
Ruffled and out of sorts,
With your cat faces,
Squashed by snowy caps.
Snow is still thin,
Yet will come thicker soon.
Eventually you will win,
Another spring will come.
Your roots will labor and birth a
New crop of seed pods,
Born to wear snowy crowns.
So the seasons go around.