www.true…

As we set out upon our way the very air is charged with excitement!

The scenery is fresh and new despite a hundred walks before…

A dozen scents distract my lelephants…giving me the chance…for once…to arrive at water’s edge…alone…

What should I find?!

Miss turtle well upon the shore. How she must have trudged through muck and weeds to score.

Even now, paws thunder quickly towards us! No time to lose…must act fast…

I gather her up, my hands on either side, whereupon she disappears into her always home. Hurry now, they’re coming!

I carry her before me out along the pier. Kneeling, I set her softly on the water. Promptly she emerges from the safety of her shell, frightened…and swims away…

I imagine a breathless, thank you, popping from the bubble she leaves behind…

All at once, Monsieur le Jacques and Dear Dobby do Right, fly out to greet me! Halting at my side in consternation…

Whatever have you been up to without our trusty selves?

Well, if you must know…I have quite recently saved Miss Greta…from your own brand of torment disguised as playfulness…

Who us? – they query wide eyed with disbelief.

Yes, from you my loves – I reply with a giggle.

Suddenly…

The wild whispering wind…www.true…stirs from the West…one moment, one life, one love…

Welcome it blows against my cheek dropping wisps of hair so I cannot see…

As I put them gently back in place…I look around to find…all are gone once again…safe in the depths…off on adventure…

and I am adrift in the loving caress of the breeze…

****

ellie894 May 2018

where are they now…

I wonder…at all the lines filled with all the words that have found a home here within this virtual world…of all the wounds of all the souls shared within this place without walls…of all the love strong and true that rejoices or aches in the rhyme of you…and of all the fragile thoughts that didn’t quite make it…of all the ones that were cut and tossed…where are they now…and what will they do…just imagine…how very lovely they must be too…

****

ellie894 May 2018

I search your horizon…

I search your horizon

For where to begin

Meadow to forest to sky

My thoughts are no longer

Mine alone…

And I no longer ask why

They are tied and tangled with you

I am quite helpless

And breathless

Not certain what I can do…

Only write them

One lovely word at a time

Working slowly

At the knot

Unable to see

Where I leave off

Where you pick up

Is this word for you

Or from me

How often my heart

Bends to the breeze

A whisper of silken thread

Woven amidst

your satin sky

A pillow to adorn

Our dreamy bed

I write and write

With gentle hand

As the clock ticks away

Across timeless land

First my word

Then yours

There’s never any use

As the sun crashes

Into the ocean of night

We are still tangled

You and me

My heart gives a tender sigh

After all…

It’s the way true love

Is meant to be…

****

ellie894 April 2018

for the little ones…

They will not remember

You

as a

Success

Or

as a

Failure

Only

that you

Showed up

With a smile on your face

a book in your hand

and a song in your heart

Just for them…

****

ellie894 April 2018

Unicorns and Midnight Bread

There are so many things to love…

Unicorns, because what’s not to love about unicorns, I mean, seriously. Have you ever tried not to love a unicorn? I’m pretty sure it can’t be done.

Huckleberry berry who loves cheese and pancakes and…well, just about everything.

Cookies!! All kinds, warm from the oven with a glass of icy milk at anytime of the day! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – cookies are in fact the world’s most perfect food. When things are bad and getting worse…keep a cookie in your purse.

Reading…the feel of a book in my hands, the way words come together, and thoughts meant just for me…

Grinning your way through a box of baby pictures. Such kissable cheeks!

Being awakened at midnight by the aroma of fresh bread baking. It doesn’t happen often but oh, when it does…

Dobby’s sweet attentive eyes, oh, how they melt me…

Kind encouragement at the end of a long day…

Coming through the door and knowing without a doubt that you were missed. Noses and tails don’t keep secrets very well.

Storytime! Shining faces and songs and onomatopoeias! Try saying this five times fast…I dare you…try saying it once. It’ll make you feel better. I promise.

“Squeech squooch! Squeech squooch! The sloppy-gloppy, lily-loppy, slurpy-glurpy swamp!”

Tissues that are softer than soft when you have need of them.

A gentle blanket of white sky, so many clouds that they aren’t even clouds anymore. Then breezes that come and stir them until they are pillow soft clouds once more…what they are meant to be.

1000 shades of green that decorate the spring, more than there are even words to describe! Mother nature’s way of letting your eye rest. No need to decide if you like it or not, if it makes you happy or sad. Just a soft place to land…we all need that sometimes…a soft place to land.

Sipping sweet iced tea out of a clear blue mason jar with a twist of lemon.

Songs that touch your soul and carry you…

Anything and everything that’s fridge-worthy! The outside of the fridge, not the inside…wink. One day perhaps I’ll post about fridge-worthy.

Robin red breast has returned to the yard after a long long absence. I missed him and am happy to see him back again.

Drifting thoughts on a slow porch swing…

Visiting the museum and finding yourself so enchanted that you become quite helpless in the presence of so much beauty…

Once a year flowers that bring such joy and surprise that you will go out of your way for them…

Making a wish upon the first evening star…

Driving miss daisy on a brilliant day, open to the wind, taking the hills and the curves of today’s journey…just today’s.

Watching Bobolicious trying Not to get wet at the lake! I’d rather not, thank you. I don’t understand why y’all have to go and get all messy like. Ugh.

When your imagination flies free, taking you to a tiny white cottage on the top of a hill where absolutely anything can be…

Sleeping Beauty, sigh…I can still hear Mary Martin sing “Once Upon a Dream”… and I still begin to dance when I do…

My own dear woods of course, and wandering beneath their cathedral of trees.

I love… kindness, and meeting life with passion and a gentle nature and giggles and all sorts of things that won’t all fit in this one space…

within, behind, over, under and hugging them all is love. That’s what I love most of all…love…

won’t you tell me all the things that you love…

suzanne❤️

****

ellie894 March 22,2018

storybook quote from Looking for a Moose by Phyllis Root

loving you…

When you awaken

To a love you never knew

There I will be…

***

When you stand strong

For those who cannot for themselves

There I will be…

***

When you lift a little one

So she can touch the stars

There I will be…

***

When you search forever

In the worldly knot of time

There I will be…

***

When your branches entwine and twirl

In reaching for the brilliant sky

There I will be…

***

When your treasured moments

Burn bright with fiery promise

There I will be…

***

When your winding path

Feels far too far and far too long

There I will be…

***

When you are softly resting

Amidst the flutter of tender wings

There I will be…

***

When your soulful heart

Journeys atop the crested ocean waves

There I will be…

***

When you pause in wonder

To gaze at small things never seen

There i will be…

***

When your thoughts are lost

In the honeyed strings of a pleasing violin

There I will be…

***

When your fingers dance

In time with a graceful arch

There I will be…

***

When you find at last

Your golden grail

There i will be…

Always,

The loving wine within your cup…

****

ellie894 March 2018

Could you ever…

Gusty winds brush clouds away. Delicious stars sing the story of once… Cozy up and listen to the notes they play…

Tuck one foot up beside me…the other rests on the ground… heel…toe…heel…toe… never making a sound… it keeps the swing persuading … gently… to and fro… thoughts … they drift now … as on we go …

I fell into a starry night…caressed by clouds above the woods…it held me soft and asked me if I could…

Could you see…

Circling strokes with brilliant ease. Hear colors whirling in the breeze. Cool night air is thick with paint in dreamy shades of blue. I placed them there…lovingly for you…

Could you feel…

In a moment of unbridled passion the wind calls out and teases the leaves to dance. The trees…they answer… with an arch and a sway that beckons the wind in wild romance…

Could you hear…

Flashes and clashes of fiery yellow…heat up the night…as a bow across strings…stars echo the rhythm…and wordlessly ring…

Could you taste…

Traces of silver slide evermore…through open window to reach the floor…as white as cream…velvety true…sweetly, sir moonbeam…kisses you…

All keep time to eternal song… color and wind and violin…

Will you sing along…

Could you hear a painting… could you see a song… could you feel love upon the wind…lasting forever long…

Gliding on the porch swing…to and fro…to and fro…

Could you ever…

********

ellie894 February 2018

worthshire…

In a city

Lived a town house.

Through a window

On the second floor

I could see

A garage.

Beyond that

A street,

Beyond that

More houses,

Looking back at me.

But if,

I sat

Upon the floor

Or,

Laid upon the bed

And,

Cast my eyes

Through the glass

Into

The sky

There was

A grand and towering

Pine tree.

He filled me

With hope.

He carried me

Past the sadness of the day.

He taught me

The story

That

Before there was concrete

There was this

Tall and strong

Waving in the wind

Shelter and home

To many.

He taught me

That green

Is the color of kindness.

He taught me

That to sway with the breeze

Is the secret of strength.

He was always there

As close as

My unveiled window

Upon the world.

He laughed

With me.

He cried

With me.

But always

He stayed

With me.

He never needed

Boat or plane

Car or train

To travel the world.

Instead,

He sailed the skies

And saw a million moments

Come and go…

In every pine I see

Stand tall

There is a hint of him

Within them all.

********

Written and photographed by Ellie894 February 2018

Clyde

Once upon a time…

There was a crocodile named Clyde. He was rather lonesome and lost.

But, when Clyde slept he dreamed wonderful dreams of a home…

One day,

Clyde fell asleep in the shade of the sweet-gum tree, beneath its branches filled with stars.

And he dreamed…of shy tortoises sunning themselves on an out stretched log.

All of a sudden…

Plink! Plonk! Plunk!

Prickly fruit dropped from the sweet-gum tree onto Clyde’s head waking him from a sound slumber.

So, he stood up on his short legs and plodded along until he found a new place.

Clyde fell asleep in the shade of the wise old oak tree, beneath its branches filled with hidden homes.

And he dreamed…of birds soaring high overhead.

All of a sudden…

Plink! Plonk! Plunk!

Marble like acorns dropped from the oak tree onto Clyde’s head waking him from a sound slumber.

So, he stood up on his short legs and strolled along until he found a new place.

Clyde fell asleep in the shade of a towering pine tree beneath its branches filled with chattering squirrels.

The pine straw made a good place to rest and soon enough he was dreaming again…of frogs hopping playfully in the mud.

All of a sudden…

Plink! Plonk! Plunk!

Pine cones dropped from the towering pine tree onto Clyde’s head waking him from a sound slumber.

With a sigh he stood up on his short legs and trekked on.

He wondered if he would ever find a true home.

His short legs carried him far across the land.

He trudged through cold winter snow.

He tiptoed through fresh spring flowers.

He twirled through dry dusty summer.

He ambled through drifting autumn leaves.

Clyde wandered through wide open spaces

And through busy noisy towns

Clyde traveled on and on…

He saw a great many wonderful things.

But, none of them felt right in his heart.

So he kept on…

Until one day when Clyde was very tired and full of despair…

He came to the edge of a great lake.

There were trees shading the banks.

There were shy tortoises sunning themselves.

There were birds soaring high overhead.

There were even frogs hopping playfully in the mud.

It was just like Clyde’s dream.

It was a quiet happy place underneath enormous skies.

Clyde thought that he would stay.

Then…

Just over there…

On the bank, half in the water and half out…

Half in the sun and half out…

Was a crocodile just like himself!

Slowly Clyde approached her…

He was a little scared…

What if she didn’t like him?

My name is Clyde. What’s yours?

Camellia, she said shyly.

That’s a lovely name. May I sit with you Camellia?

I’d like that – she said with a warm smile.

All at once…

Clyde knew

That he had found…home.

********

Written and photographed by Ellie894 February 2018

the waltz

The sun blazes farewell as it sets in the autumn sky taking the light of day along to another place whose time has come. Strong silhouettes rule this moment where one thing slowly becomes another.

Lily checks her reflection in the glass once more. The long calico dress is simple but it is the best she has. Her chestnut hair falls soft about her shoulders pulled back with the only satin ribbon she owns…blue

Butterflies carry her down the stairs in a fluttering what if…

It is a time before neon lights hide the beauty of the night. Vast countryside is softly bathed in shadow. A half moon curls up as sentinel in an ebony sky.

Music and laughter call out in welcome through the open barn door. The scent of hay mingles with tempting aromas that float above the kettles simmering with hearty fare.

Gingham cloth drapes over and down wooden farmhouse tables laden with the bounty of orchard and fire. Hot cornbread is so golden it just might be worth something.

Pastry has been rolled and filled with the stuff that dreams are made of. A dusting of sugar and time in the oven has them bubbling and sparkling until one can hardly wait.

A few men keep time with their feet as their bows fly fast over the fiddle strings! Sometimes…they slow and soften.

One by one, couples take to the center of the barn. They are timid at first, until the joy of the song fills their hearts. In this place, skirts catch the air and not a single toe will be stepped on…wink

Then, from beyond the hustle and bustle…

the gentleman offers his arm and a warm smile. She accepts both with the raspberry blush of cheek that she knew would come.

No one notices as they make their way past fiddlers and ladies keeping watch over food and even the couples twirling round the dance floor.

…through the open door… into the fresh night air…past the storytellers spinning tales by the fire’s warm glow…

…to the lovely place where moonbeams shine and music can still be heard…

One, two three…step, two three…sweet notes drift in the air above their makeshift dance floor…eyes lost in one another…they waltz…beneath a million stars…

Long after the fiddles stop playing…long after the pies are eaten…long after the world has disappeared…hand in hand…they dance…

***********

Inspired by Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason

written and photographed by Ellie894 February 9, 2018