Category Archives: joy

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Fashion and joy

I took this photograph of my friend Bill pointing out that he and my daughter are wearing the same fashion: the three stripes on the navy blue adidas workout pants. He is accentuating the stripes!

We were headed out for a bike ride, Christmas, 2021 in Maryland.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: accentuate.

I am listening to versions of Lift Every Voice and Sing. Here is Ray Charles. I think he wins the fashion statement for this post! And his version accentuates joy!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: accentuate.

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Stone heart

My mind is done and unsurprised. My heart a stubborn rock.
My heart does not give up: loves where it loves. It doesn’t care
about reality or whether it is derided or mocked.
My mind moves on and kicks my heart, wondering where
this tenacity stems from. My heart is done with tears.
It agrees to new friends and joys in dance.
When my mind says forget, my heart jumps and steers
my body into a warrior fighting stance.
My mind is cynical and laughs and derides my heart.
I let them fight back and forth every day.
I cannot reach an end unless I start
to honor my feelings, the heart must hold sway.
My mind moves on, ignoring what you do.
Yet my stubborn heart remains a friend, strong and true.

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Rhody, rhody, rhody

Oh, my gosh, the rhododendron’s are popping like popcorn.

The Rhody Run is coming up. https://runsignup.com/Race/WA/PortTownsend/JeffersonHeatlhcareRhodyRun

The Rhododendron Festival is also approaching like crazy.

https://www.jeffcountychamber.org/events/details/2023-annual-rhododendron-festival-1873

And our Sunrise Rotary Running of the Balls happens one hour before the Rhododendron Parade:

https://www.ptsunriserotary.org/page/our-fun-d-raiser-events

For Mother’s Day, my kids all called. My daughter sent tea and a card. A friend and I went to the Chimacum Woods Nursery and the rhododendrons there are mind blowing. They have been building the gardens there for over 40 years.

https://www.chimacumwoods.com/

For the next few weeks my flowers are going to be rhodys, rhodys and more beautiful rhodys!

For Cee’s Flower of the Day.

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Gone wild

There must have been a garden here long ago
No house but a chicken coop still stands
Three rhodys gone wild: lush and gorgeous show
Taller than I can reach overhead with hands
Scattered daffodils, the deer don’t like them much.
No tulips, the deer eat them down to the ground.
Petunia purple faces spread through brush.
The deer are shy not like the herds in town
Who teach the fawns to cross at crosswalks during day.
They don’t like rhodys either so the trio grows
Untrimmed, untrammeled, untamed, without a stay
I wonder if there’s envy from wild roses
Wild roses thorn each inch to hide in brush,
while the rhodys climb like trees, flowering lush.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: lush and for Cee’s Flower of the Day.

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catch

Catch

What bucket can catch this light and color?
None, I think, and then I think I am wrong.
A bucket lowered and set in the water,
Turquoise and blue and black, a song.
Lift the bucket and the turquoise is gone.
Reflected light, a dance on on the riffles.
It’s like the happiness for which we long.
Caught for a moment, containment stifles
the reflection of joy in our face and hearts.
The face that lights from music or dance
or a moment touched by another’s art.
Let joy come and go, take the chance.
The light on the water will be gone at night.
Joy wants to be free and not held too tight.

I heard the band The Winetree last September in Ohio.

Sonnet 17.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: bucket.

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Seal of approval

Signed, sealed, delivered but not aligned
we arrange ourselves with hands like fins
we arrange ourselves according to time
the island shrinks as the tide rolls in
the island hides in the moon pulled sea
our fur warmed in the sun’s brief kiss
we roll in the waves and dive so deep
we roll into the water to play and fish
the fish flock to school to avoid our teeth
we chase and catch and eat our fill
now the island is a shallow rock reef
the flash of the fish as they come to grief
the tide rolls in, the tide rolls out
we climb back on our island as it climbs out

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I walked south on Marrowstone Island two days ago. The tide was starting to come in. The little island is covered when the tide is high and everyone has to go swim. I think they were enjoying the sun as much as I was.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: align.

And speaking of seals: