BARREN

Upon a hill stands a tree
My husband planted there,
Representing the child
That I could not bear.

From a tiny seedling
The tree grew strong and tall,
Braving all the seasons
Summer, winter, spring, and fall.

To the hill he'd go each day
To gaze upon that tree,
From one branch he hung a swing
For his child that would not be.

In it's shade he'd sit and dream
For many hours every day,
He'd envision the children we couldn't have
As they might romp and play.

I watched him grow old with the tree
And saw the emptiness in his soul,
It was I who made him that way
His happiness I had stole.

Twas a cool summers eve neath the tree he sat
His thoughts with the children at play,
God saw fit to take my man
To his playground far away.

There neath that tree stands a stone
The epitaph of a childless man,
"This tree is my child, my love and my life,
Eternally it shall stand."

RIVER OF LIFE

Running, flowing, never stopping. Starting as a trickle, joining other trickles, becoming a stream. Stream joining other streams pushing its way through rocks, mud, sand, and plants. Becoming a mighty, strong, widening river. Picking up pebbles along its way, tossing them, turning them, playing with them, and then dropping them off further down and forgetting them. Rains fall into it and join as one with it. Heat evaporates it and takes part of it away. Ever flowing, ever changing, never passing the same way, twice, never regretting having been there.

The photo is a clip taken from a video that I took on a 1998 trip to Portland OR for a family reunion. We went sightseeing along the Columbia River and walked in to see several of the many falls. It's all very beautiful and well worth the visit if you ever get the chance.

CANDLE OF LOVE

Melting, dripping, running, hardening.

Forming running, escaping designs as it flows.

Remelting, dripping, running further, hardening.

Flame flickering chasing it farther,

no escape till the flame dies.

Turbulence makes the flame flicker harder and burn faster.

Calm creates a steady fire burning slower,

and shining brighter, less melting, dripping, running,
hardening.

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Candle drawn in Corel Essentials using my Wacom Intuos tablet.

SHADOW OF A SHADOW

Fluorescent flower painted of a shadow.
Flower dying slowly, uprooted from the ground,
Once living, growing, blooming, dropping seeds, and replanting. Uprooted it lives only to die without rebirth,
The flower dies and becomes only a shadow of the shadow on the wall.

This prose describes something that I actually experienced. As a teenager my mother allowed me to paint on the basement walls where my bedroom was located. Her reasoning was that my father would get tired of the things that I painted on the walls and then he'd be motivated to fix up the basement. That backfired when I painted a larger than life arm of Jesus nailed to the cross with the "Judge not..." verses calligraphied beneath. Anyway, I digress; one day I was given a carnation which I placed in a vase and set on the table by my bed. The flower cast a shadow on the wall and with fluorescent paints in hand and nothing else to do I painted the shadow of the carnation on the wall in bright vibrant colors. Days later I had forgotten all about the flower and the painting till I turned on my black light, turned off the overhead and there on the wall by my bed the shadow of the flower burst to life as the real flower drooped dark and dead, now nothing more than a shadow of the painting. It was quite amazing, really.

FATE

My name is Fate
I live on the wind,
No one's my enemy
Everyone's my friend.

No ties or bonds
To hold me fast,
I do not worry
About the future or past.

I walk in the forest
And dance in the springs,
I live in the flowers
And ride on butterfly wings.

No storm can stop me
No fence can keep me in,
For I am Fate
And I live on the wind.

Nude

Nude sketch, charcoal pencil

SHE

She was born in the heart of the forest,
Pure as the heavens was she,
Gentleness was her nature
She loved all that was free.

Her life was simple and happy,
It was all that life should be,
Joys she saw in little things
Most people will never see.

She was poor and never knew
For life held many joys,
She had love you can't replace
With a bedroom full of toys.

She gave to all that she met
This love she had to give,
To make this world a happy place
For everyone to live.

WORLD AND LOVE

How can I live
In a world without love?
I give all I can,
With help from above.

With men overseas
Who are willing to die,
How can we sit around
And watch time fly by?

They know what it is
To love their land,
To show love
And give a helping hand.

We must live each day
One by one,
And show each father
How to love his son.

Put each family
Where they belong,
With alot of love
It can't go wrong.

But I guess for now,
I’ll live as I must
In a world of hate,
Killings, and distrust.

But maybe someday,
With help from above,
We'll live in a world
Filled with love.

Church in the Wildwood

Crayon on manila drawing paper.

FOUND

Where in these stars did I come from
Where in this world do I go?
Everyone say they have answers
To questions they never did know.

They tell me the laws of the universe
They tell me the laws of the land,
They tell me the things that must be so
But it's their words I don't understand.

You must be shrewd, you must be cold
To live on honey and walk on gold,
Hold your own and give to none
Wallow in the greed and hate you've spun.

Once in my youth I remember hearing
A wonderful, beautiful, loving story,
About a babe sent down from heaven
To walk on earth, the son of Glory.

He taught the laws of the universe
He taught the laws of the land,
He spoke with love and compassion
That everyone might understand.

He will tell me where I came from,
He can tell me where I'll go,
He has all of the answers
To the questions they never did know.

His name is Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior
Come to earth to help us all,
He will help me along my way
And pick me up if I should fall.