secret hideaway
white sand gleams pure
buttressed boulders stand watch
trees aren’t telling
* * *
Hilton Head Island, 1972, on the Atlantic Ocean side of the island. Thanks to the good graces of the owners, Read the rest of this entry »
Telling the Truth
connecting the dots of my life
Category: Haiku/Poetry
October 7, 2015
October 1, 2015
feet shuffle | Story #1
feet shuffle
down multiple aisles
approach the altar
sacraments of life
and death remembered
the sound of shoes
resonates against concrete
moves us to receive
hope for life and death
a crumb and a drop
spiritual food for body and soul
It’s 1980-something. Read the rest of this entry »
September 26, 2015
weapons of war
sunburst of glory
explodes in gleaming splendor
wrought from war’s horror
* * *
I’m standing in The Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle, surrounded by historic weapons of war. Read the rest of this entry »
September 23, 2015
souls of the righteous
Part of a bronze frieze by Alice and Morris Meredith Williams
I wrote the words below when we visited the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle. It honors all Scots who fell in World War I. No photos were allowed inside the building. Read the rest of this entry »
August 19, 2015
Where have I been?
Floating to the surface
Gasping for air
Seeking the sun
Tethered to my roots
By a single umbilical cord
Drifting but not far from home
Dancing in the sunlight
Unfurling my heart to the sky
Far above I rest floating
For what feels like a heartbeat
Of undiluted peace and contentment
* * *
For the last two days, D and I were Read the rest of this entry »
August 18, 2015
gracious morning sun
gracious morning sun
rises on spacious lawn set
for tea and crumpets
* * *
Well, maybe not tea and crumpets. But the social equivalent thereof. This is gracious Kenya service at its natural, well-groomed best. It’s early in the morning. You’re looking at the Naro Moru River Lodge. It’s late August 1999. D and I are there for a fall faculty retreat, along with 20-25 faculty and administrative colleagues from the seminary near Nairobi where we taught that fall.
This was my introduction to the laid-back beauty of post-British rule services for vacationers and tourists. That included in-country and foreign visitors such as D and I. I’d never in my life been treated to such gracious service. It existed in the Deep South when I was growing up, but not for me. I felt almost like Queen for a Day. Actually for a weekend.
When I think about hospitality to strangers, I think of simple things. Yet this and other experiences like it, though not simple, are also signs of hospitality. I found myself enjoying the weekend while feeling strangely out of place and out of time. More than a little self-conscious because I was a stranger, unsure about my place at the table. Hospitable as it was.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 17 August 2015
Photo credit: DAFraser, August 1999
Naro Moru River Lodge, Nyeri, Kenya
August 15, 2015
Colors of Africa
red ochre seeps
through thin young veins
leaves blush
* * *
In Fall 1999 I went with D to a seminary near Nairobi, Kenya, for my fall sabbatical. D has a long history with the seminary. I’d been once before. This was my first longer-term visit.
Mom had died in February that year, 78 years old. I was still grieving, shaky and uncertain about my identity without Mom present in my life.
My teaching load was light. I facilitated my favorite seminar ever–how to reflect theologically on biblical narrative–attended seminary functions, did a little speaking and a lot of listening and travel.
Just after we arrived, we went to the fall faculty retreat at a conference center outside of Nairobi, near Mt. Kenya. D took this photo on our way back to Nairobi.
The area around and north of Nairobi is a riot of colors and lush greenery. At the very base of everything, though, is red ochre. It’s everywhere. It isn’t simply in the earth; it is the earth. It’s also the fine dust floating through the dry air, coloring the water during short and long rains, seeping into and clinging to everything. A reminder of our origins.
Psalm 103:13-14 (NRSV, slightly edited by me)
As parents have compassion for their children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear God.
For God knows how we were made;
And remembers that we are dust.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 15 August 2015
Photo credit: DAFraser, September 1999, Ngini, Kenya
August 11, 2015
The Hole in my Heart
There’s a hole in my heart called Mom
Three letters missing from
my childhood alphabet soup
Empty.
I run on empty
Search for something Read the rest of this entry »
August 4, 2015
fairy drops
fairy drops
leap sparkling in
august dance
* * *
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 4 August 2015
Photo credit: DAFraser, August 2014
Longwood Gardens
August 4, 2015
I’m wide awake | A Dream
Today has been almost as surrealistic as the dream I had just before I woke up this morning. I’m still unsettled, and have no great insight yet about it. I recorded the dream this morning. Looking back, it seems to mirror my wandering through this strange day of interruptions.
I’m wide awake lost in a maze of hallways
filled with small shops and out-of-sight Read the rest of this entry »
Telling the Truth 