gritty monuments
gritty monuments to perseverance emerge from salts of the earth
***
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 11 July 2017
Image of Bryce Canyon, Utah, found at Pixabay.com
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Grit
Telling the Truth
connecting the dots of my life
Category: Haiku/Poetry
July 11, 2017
July 7, 2017
writing life backwards…
The past
a muddled conglomeration
bits and pieces
scraps
in colors drab
dripping red
rags
Socks with holes
that hold no water
no deep thoughts
nothing worth saving
but my embodied soul
such as it was
small
scared
scarred
hypervigilant and
anguished
Dressed for church and company
Awkward, unseemly nice
Plain and forgettable
I will not forget
I write obsessively now
since the dam burst
Is this my confession?
Relieved capitulation to truth?
Sorrowful search for a little girl lost?
Yes Yes Yes and Yes –
All that and more
Written with a feather–
Backwards
***
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 7 July 2017
Image found at salon.com, previously featured in Crazy Happy Lady
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Quill
July 5, 2017
born yet again
born yet again
loving and leaving
peeling growing itchy
skin too tight
between lurches
a hatched pattern
unfolds
creases rise edgy
birth canal angular
made to order
a fearsome adventure
unrehearsed
a snail’s pace
catapults me
inch by sub-inch
toward light
***
And that, my friends, it what this plucky woman felt when I woke this morning. Keenly aware of my age and of the many times I’ve said goodbye to ‘me’ and hello to the new, exciting (?) unknown ‘me.’
Today nothing is set in concrete except this: I am God’s beloved daughter-child. Along for the ride, and learning to relax my way into it.
Happy Wednesday!
Elouise♥
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 5 July 2017
Image found at pinterest.com
Daily Prompt: Pluck
July 4, 2017
Dear Clouds,
Forgive me for interrupting you
On this sunny, slightly cloudy holiday
When you’re extra busy above the scenes.
I don’t have a speech,
Just a breezy note
In passing:
Thank you!
You show up day and night
Working in earth’s atmosphere
A massive, moving panorama.
Highlighting, lowlighting, hovering,
Dancing, rippling, undulating
Before and around the sun and the moon
Darkening, thickening, showing your muscle,
Announcing impending flashes of lightning
and thunderous torrents of rain.
I wonder, do you feel affirmed and needed?
Or do you dream of sailing off into the sunset
And never returning?
Please know you’re loved and respected the world over
And that every living thing on this planet
Counts on you to show up and do your thing.
Also, if you’re wondering,
Some of us down below are doing what we can
To make sure you live long and prosper.
From a Fan
~~~
All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!
Refrain:
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
Ye clouds that sail in heav’n along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!….
St. Francis of Assisi, ca. 1225
***
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 4 July 2017
Photo found at carlwozniak.com
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Sail
July 3, 2017
one split second
One split second frozen in time captures my eyes.
***
This is a shout-out of gratitude to my dear husband who captures so many stunning photos. No matter where we are. No matter how much time it takes. No hurry. No worry. I sit in the shade, relaxing, or walk around and then come back, knowing his attention to detail will be rewarded.
Not every photo is picture perfect. But then there are the others, waiting to be discovered. This is one of the standouts.
D took this last week on our visit to Longwood Gardens. For me, the payoff comes in photos like this. They evoke wonder, and invite me to ponder life from a different angle.
They also remind me of our many trips together through life. Memories captured and resurrected each time I return for a look-see. Or post them right here for you.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 3 July 2017
Photo taken by DAFraser, 27 June 2017
Longwood Gardens Lily Pond, Kennet Square, Pennsylvania
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Dash
June 30, 2017
It began innocently enough
It began innocently enough
Here a bit, there a bit
Never enough to cause
a problem mind you
After all, small snacks
helped her get through
the day and sometimes
the night
But insatiable hunger
screamed for more
as though there might not
be a tomorrow
And her more became less –
Insubstantial pap dished up
flavored just the way
she liked it
They say terminal glut
caused her early demise
That, and her uncontrollable
urge to gorge on the news
of her choice
I don’t hate news reports. I read and listen to them regularly. Yet I can’t help noticing my daily habits, and the kinds of headlines I seem unable to resist.
I could justify any or all of it. Yet what have I gained? And how does any of this add value to my health and well-being? Or to accomplishing my primary goals each day? Not productivity goals, but activities that bring me joy–writing, listening to music, reading, and walking outside.
Just wondering….
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 30 June 2017
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Snack
June 29, 2017
far from home
Through hazy unknowns
life tumbles, turns
I wake far from home
not knowing how or who
I’m to be
I search for long-gone milestones
landmarks north stars
The sky an empty void
of echoing questions
no answers
no explanations
no solace
I wander between knowing what I
think I know and fearing this
could be true
Truth so fragile —
easily pierced by life’s urgent
need for me to be
someone I am not
Life itself a great puzzlement of
interlocking pieces
leading somewhere
or nowhere
I’m never quite sure
A little light
a little meaning
a little distance
from the void of not knowing
Will this come round right?
Every book every scrap of history
every letter every pain
every sorrow every shame
every secret
wells up in me
competing for attention
Pick me!
I hold the key to golden answers
Can you help me find my way home?
***
I first published this on the occasion of reaching 500 posts — 30 July 2015. Since then my life changed in ways I didn’t expect. Yet true North is still true North. I am God’s beloved daughter-child. I am not that letter I wrote, my pain, my sorrows or secrets.
Life isn’t about what I do or leave undone; it’s about who I am. Not just on sunny days at Longwood Gardens, but on days when I feel anxious, uncertain, weary or lost. I am God’s beloved daughter-child, blessed with sisters and brothers the world over. Women and men just like you.
Today I don’t feel lost or anxious. Instead I’m grateful to be alive, growing and enjoying meeting you in this strange world I call Bloggy-Land.
Elouise ♥
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 29 June 2017
Image found at gizmag.com
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Magnet
June 23, 2017
Hemming and hawing
Hemming and hawing
Their way through the muck
Fearful of committing truth
Eager for voters’ approval
They flounder
Political correctness
Blinds leaders to the truth
Of their deepest commitments
Creates wormholes
In character
Yesterday’s principles
Become today’s mush
Flavor of the moment
Quickly thrown together
Cold and tasteless
***
There isn’t a leader alive who isn’t tempted to hem and haw. Fear of committing truth seems to have become an epidemic.
The fear is well founded. The cost of being drummed out, forced out, scapegoated, fired, sued or made a target of revenge is very high. Ask any leader who has paid the price.
Leaders willing to go against expectations of their parties or constituencies seem to be a dying breed. They deserve our respect and our thanks. Whether we agree with them or not.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 23 June 2017
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Commit
June 22, 2017
paper-thin wings
paper-thin wings
of spun silk gleam
atop purple-crowned thistle
***
I’m captivated by this ephemeral moment caught in the blink of a camera. Nature’s grandeur arrives in a heart-beat and departs in a heart-beat. Not once or twice, but uncounted times over.
Often in times of desperation or dismay, nature spills over on our behalf. Free of charge. All we need are eyes to see. Especially the small things we might not notice.
Life has a paper-thin quality. It doesn’t last forever. Not even in the most substantial tomes, libraries, decrees or declarations.
Yet we pass through each day surrounded by reminders of continuity and grandeur far beyond our making. Spinning out our personal histories in the brief moments of our seasonal lives. Trusting in whispers of something and Someone greater than ourselves.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 22 June 2017
Photo found at Pixabay.com
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Paper
June 20, 2017
Kickback
Molasses
oozes
through
my veins
Sluggishness
creeps
from head
to toe
smothering
every desire
to move
Thoughts
of despair
meddle
with my sanity
laugh
at my dreams
mock
and taunt me
Doesn’t everyone
have a down day
now and again?
I’ve had stretch of good days. Very good days, in fact. The Meddler isn’t happy about this. She doesn’t like being ignored.
Well, it isn’t going to happen. Today I’m weary from the daily grind of creating health-inducing smoothies, making sure I have the right vegetables and fruit for smoothies, chopping them up for smoothies, and cleaning up my smoothie blender so it’s ready for the next round.
The Meddler keeps trying to remind me of cat-fur bunnies multiplying by the hour, decisions waiting to be made, and closets screaming to be changed out for hot weather.
I’ve decided to chill out for the rest of this day.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 20 June 2017
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Meddle
Telling the Truth 