I lie in the corpse pose while church bells ring clutching my emotions like a bouquet Confidence wilts as I wait to meet destiny Doubt is a minefield of thorns A train on tracks seems never ending Box cars pass like a life review Whether happily-ever-after or a struggle uphill the end of their line […]
-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on Thursday, September 27, 2018. A Fall Migration Hawk Watch, promoted by Blue Ridge Heritage, took place at the summit of the Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pictured is a couple who came from Greensboro to participate in the […]
1. Too much nature in poetry is like reading about the landscape in The Lord of the Rings when you just went to get back to the action. 2. To me the action is the everyday as it converges with the inner and outer life, and the big questions about immortality, mystery and how our […]
It’s hard to mess up Grateful Dead music like it’s hard to mess up an egg breakfast, and I’d eat the later three times a day and dance to the former every time. M.C. Broom & The Jam got it right at Dogtown Saturday night. They were joined by Buck and Griz for a whole […]
1st comes the heartbeat then the search for the nectar in the Garden of Eden on an island called Mother Next comes the first cry and the need to be rocked I got my start in rocking cradles Keeping time with the poem eternal Then went on to harder stuff Not trusting the heartbeat would […]
-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on September 20, 2018. Attendees for the Paws Cause Floyd County Humane Society (FCHS) fundraiser filed in to the EcoVillage Event Center Saturday evening. The lobby was lined with lighted displays of silent auction items that guests bid on. Attendees mingled in the lobby and purchased tickets […]
1. My son Josh and Emily’s marriage over the weekend was the Woodstock of weddings. 2. There was a flag procession, readings that made people cry, love professed, poetry, music, storytelling and more. A garland of marigolds from Emily’s flower farm was draped along the wedding platform that Josh built… Held at Josh’s woodfire pottery compound […]
My son Josh and his beloved Emily got married! I was calling it a “wedding festival.” Others described it as epic. There was a flag procession, readings that made people cry, love professed, poetry, music, storytelling and more. A garland of marigolds from Emily’s flower farm was draped along the wedding platform that Josh built. The […]
Lovely as lilies and sweet as peas Emily loves Josh like shamrocks are lucky Josh loves Emily like sunflowers love sun Glad as gladiolas Gold as chrysanthemums Happy as daisies We’re pleased as bees For Josh and Emily’s blooms and blessings As dear as dahlias in every color Their forget-me-not love is the rarest flower […]
You get some cute children You don’t get arrested You get family reunions You probably get some costumes And homeruns Some team spirit And class pictures You get communities mixed with communities And a communal spread of food and drink You get some freestyle moves And funky grooves You don’t get a hurricane You might […]
1. Why is Labor Day for workers but no one works on Labor Day?” – My seven-year-old grandson Liam 2. I’m either going to a wedding or a hurricane this weekend. 3. Wear Your Love Like Heaven by Donovan and You Wear it Well by Rod Stewart are two of my favorite songs. 4. I […]
____________Wordless Wednesday
-The following first appeared (with a varied spread of pictures) in The Floyd Press on September 6, 2018. The theme of the 7th annual Floyd Yoga Jam, “Illumination,” was incorporated into the festival’s opening ceremony midday on Friday, August 31. Facilitated by ceremonialist/herbalist Katherine Chantal it incorporated Acro Yogis in poses, the lighting of lanterns, […]
Like a maestro conducting three networks at once I flip discordant channels looking for escape Soundbites break skin What isn’t said blares loudly I watch the burning house with people inside it They show engulfed bodies then move to feel-good fluff while the warden tries to convince me the firefighters are the enemy ________Colleen Redman […]
The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on August 9, 2008. It was a perfect day for Plein Air (painting outdoors) after several days of rain. Floyd artists Marsha Slopey Paulekas and Joli Ayn Wood set up along the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy the free expression practice made popular by the French Impressionists […]
1. “Is it gonna rain?” 2. The picture above was taken at Floyd Yoga Jam, where we had some torrential downpours, but more sunshine than rain over the long Labor Day weekend. It’s actually a hacky sack that they’re waiting to see fall. 3. My grandsons were Super Hero campers at the Yoga Jam. And not only […]
________Wordless Wednesday
The days of life scatter like the goldfinches on Woods Gap Road The closer I get the faster they go in a fleeting ripple of beauty that won’t be seen up close Rising from the roadsides they leave me in the dust They fly from my heart like children who have grown like children never […]
