If only you knew what bliss I find in being nothing.
Words attributed to Rumi
Photo by Enchanted Seashells
Bliss
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Tag Archives: Poetry
A Hopeful Walk
She walks
With such a knowing
Of all that has been
And such a hope
For what is not yet seen
A Poem by Athey Thompson/Art by Paula Jones
Unexpected Magic
“But once in a while the odd thing happens,
Once in a while the dream comes true,
And the whole pattern of life is altered,
Once in a while the moon turns blue.”
W.H. Auden
Photos from Pinterest
Learn And Love
You will learn by reading,
But you will understand with LOVE.
— Shams Tabrizi
Image from Pinterest
Another Happy Solar Return!
Something to think about on the day of my birth, in addition to yummy cake and prezzies!
Listen up
Then just pipe down
Speak up
but don’t speak too loud
Don’t be dull
but don’t be wild
Be fun
but don’t act a child
Age gracefully
but don’t look old
Know your mind
but do as you’re told
Embrace your curves
but don’t get fat
Love yourself
but not like that
Know your worth
but not too much
Else they might feel
inadequate
Wear make-up,
look natural though
Stand your ground
but don’t say no
Choose the right path
but for who?
Right for them
or right for you?
Right for who
they’d rather see
Or right for
who you’d rather be?
Listen up
I’ll tell you this
This life of yours
is yours to live
Becky Hemsley 2023
Excerpted from: What the Wild Replied
Joyful Full Flower Moon on May Day!
"The moon, like a flower in heaven's high bower,
With silent delight sits and smiles on the night." — William Blake
This is a great time to make a wish because there will be two full moons in May!
The first one is the Flower Moon (in Scorpio) and will reach its peak tomorrow, May 1, while the second full moon, the Blue Moon (which is also a micromoon), peaks at the end of the month on May 31.
This full moon symbolizes the peak of spring, blooming, and full expression, urging us to step into our potential and allow our personal growth to “bloom”.
It’s also May Day, to honor the arrival of spring (Beltane).
Beltane traditions include dancing around maypoles, creating flower crowns, and placing flowers on neighbors’ doorsteps.
I’ll try to remember to place my crystals on the deck to absorb all of the positive and cleansing energies of the full moon, along with a carafe of water to charge with lunar energy for intention-setting and healing.
It’s the best way to kick off my birthday month and the best day of all to celebrate, Mother’s Day!
A Grain of Sand
To see the world in a grain of sand
And heaven in a wildflower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour
-William Blake
Sometimes all you need is to lie in the sand and breathe.
Earth Day 2026
In an alternate universe, I would wish everyone a Happy Earth Day, but today, there’s not a whole lot to celebrate.
Mother Earth is at risk and we’re not doing enough to save her. Or us.
The orange POS and his administration have been focused on reversing environmental regulations to boost domestic energy production, targeting over 460 environmental, climate, and public health safeguards for removal or weakening. Key initiatives include withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, rescinding the EPA’s Endangerment Finding to deregulate greenhouse gases and promoting “drill, baby, drill” fossil fuel policies.
California is battling federal efforts to expand oil drilling off its coast, with lawsuits filed to block the restart of Sable Offshore Corp pipelines near Santa Barbara, which were shut down after a major 2015 spill. While new drilling in state waters is banned, federal plans propose lease sales for new offshore drilling between 2027-2030, raising risks of oil spills and environmental damage.
This appalling administration is actively expanding oil drilling in Alaska, reversing Biden-era restrictions on millions of acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and initiating lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Projects like ConocoPhillips’ Willow and new auctions highlight a push for increased development amid lawsuits from environmental groups and support from state leaders.
Like I said, not much to celebrate. It’d be more accurate to say that we are in mourning…
I attended the very first Earth Day celebration in 1970 at Balboa Park in San Diego with a crowd of about 70,000 people. The weather was beautiful, about 68 degrees, and I must have skipped school that Wednesday.
I can’t remember who I went with or how I got there but I do recall walking from booth to booth looking for free stuff and having an unpleasant encounter with a San Diego cop, probably about being truant.
There is a vague recollection that I swore at him and he got all puffed up and intimidating, threatened to call my dad until I told him to go ahead, my dad was an attorney…and then he walked away. Miss you, Daddy, and thank you!
Gaia, known as the mother goddess, was the personification of Earth. She’s described as a caring and nurturing mother figure to all of her children, plants, and other living creatures on this planet.
We’re all children of Gaia, Earth Mother, no matter where we live, and if we take care of Mother Earth, she’ll take care of us.
With this reckless administration of chaos and darkness, they seem determined to destroy as much of our environmental and animal protections as they’re doing to democracy and the constitution, so it’s not such a happy day, after all.
Orchid Rescue
A while back a neighbor was tossing out a few orchid plants that she thought were dead or dying. I rescued them, gave them love, and patiently waited.
I’ve been rewarded with not one, but two of them throwing spikes and blooming at the same time!
Best of all, they’re one of the few flowers that don’t trigger my allergies!
Slightly different shades of fuchsia bring joy.
I don’t know why anyone would discard an orchid; they’re not that difficult to maintain and there’s immense satisfaction when they rebloom.
I found an obscure poem about orchids by José Santos Chocano, written in the 1920s:
The Orchids
Freaks of bright crystal, airy beauties fair,
Whose enigmatic forms amaze the eye—
Crowns fit to deck Apollo’s brows on high,
Adornments meet for halls of splendor rare!
They spring from knots in tree-trunks, rising there
In sweet gradation; winding wondrously,
They twist their serpent stems, and far and nigh
Hang overhead like wingless birds in air.
Lonely, like pensive heads, all fetterless.
Lofty and free they bloom; by no dull chain
Their flowers to any tyrant root are bound;
Because they too, at war with pettiness,
Desire to live, like souls that know no stain,
Without one touch of contact with the ground.
To Be Wild
“To be wild is not to be crazy or psychotic. True wildness is a love of nature, a delight in silence, a voice free to say spontaneous things, and an exuberant curiosity in the face of the unknown.” —Robert Bly
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 