Santiam River

We drove up out of the valley, through the mountains, listening to Coldplay.

The Santiam River. It was breathtaking. I wondered if my whole life had been a dream and I just woken up. Rivendell. Stretching above my head, the pines leaned in towards the sun. The water was clear and freezing, swiftly flowing below the moss covered boulders and enormous slabs of stone that had been sprinkled in the river by a giant's hand. The sun was bright and warm, but not warm enough to heat the glacial water that shivered my bones and shocked my lungs as I jumped in. How alive were the ferns that curled beneath my dripping feet and the moss that covered the stepping stones to heaven. How young we were when we climbed the rock walls and let the rapids carry us under. How old when we crept inside the cave and listened to the waterfalls SING sing sing about the many ages it had seen. How timeless, that river, it knows no sorrow. Only rocks and swift thoughts of every changing landscape and ever-passing time. Every moment was a lifetime, I felt the Earth's heartbeat all around me. Life pulsed inside me. We jumped from the cliffs; we flew. Poised on the edge, muscles waiting. Throw yourself forward. Falling. Flying. Waiting. Air rushes around you.
Splash.
Underwater, coldwater, heavywater, kicking to the surface.
The danger thrilled us and we laughed until we fell down on the forest floor and the sun danced in the corners of our eyes. 

Somedays...you taste heaven.

Photo by my cousin- Jamey Pyles (https://www.facebook.com/jameypylesphotography)

8/4/12

saltwater drops
sorrow abysmal
fissures in the sand
where they land

child.

my arms are infinite
each fiber - a lifetime
landscapes and seas
in my bones

don't tell Me
that you are out of reach

photo by Hope Autumn

Revisiting Seattle

bittersweet
Seattle streets
familiar pavement
on my feet

do you remember?

our hearts:
breathing/beating
burnished/sweeping
bound as one
with salty strands
when the forest
joined our hands

don't forget

the day you took
your first steps
(pine needles underfoot)

your lungs expanded-
first breath
(sea mist surrounding)

the first day of
that relentlessly new
sharply shining
brightly worthy
adven-journey

For Frederick, Eli, Faraji, Cody, David, John, Ariana, Allie, Jenny, Sabrina, and Hope.

Hope

I woke with a start
-pounding heart-
for I heard the wind
sweeping the skies

My window was open,
the locks were broken
The hour glass shattered
the sand drifting fine

I clambered the rooftop
high and sweeter
while goldenleaves
wove themselves
into my hair

Birds and leaves
Brown and Fluttering
Through the windy
morning thoughts

Oh the everblue sky!
dripping with dye
lend me your hues
for my soft graying eyes

This is the view from my roof, where I wrote this poem

Day 28:

All her thoughts are writ with pen,
words unspoken, never bend.
All her soul's an untamed land,
set inside the giant's hand.

Her eyes were made to see the scream,
to recognize the darkest dream.
To dig the deepest drinking well,
along the sandy shores of hell.

Her crystal, clear-cut ocean eyes,
separate the truth from lies.
And though the world is cold and dim,
she finds her Gold and Green in Him.

Day 27: Sunset

A cute little mini vacay happened, and poetry did not, but now I'm back on track. 


The sun hangs heavy,
wavering horizon.
It burns my retinas
with a goldenbright shine


Prairie grass, green and sepia
Sparse trees in the dusty light.
Who am I?
Just another molded mind?


Chasing down the motes of
lovely light
Gathering my dust
and hoarding the sight


Oh Coral Sky,
soft with the breathing cool
Let me not forever-run
with my eyes closed.


Oh Tremorous Wind,
shiver me deep.
Let me not
fall fast asleep...


Oh Spirit of God,
walking in the evening
Let me not forget
the truth beyond my view.

Day 21: Planted

My feet sink deeper

and my soul uncurls

like a crumpled butterfly 

beating the air with it's

paper thin wings for the first time.

My toes are warm

in the crumbling dirt

and they drink in the sweetwater

with a sound too deep to hear

Sun on my upturned palms

Peace in my bones

as I dwell in the Land

The faithfulness of God

is the sky above me

and the earth beneath me

I live, I move

I am

in Him

My roots are wrapped

deep in the heart of God

Drawing my Green

from it's pulse

My branches are raised

in praise

As He smiles down

 from the sunny sky

Photography By Gilad (http://gilad.deviantart.com/)

Psalms 37:3-4

"Trust in the Lord, and do good:

Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord.

And He shall give you the desires of your heart."