low afternoon sun
illuminates interior–
hushed benediction
* * *
It’s October 2012. My husband and I are with a couple of family members. It’s late afternoon. We’re walking back from the beach to the parking lot, on a trail through Oswald West State Park. We pass trees in multiple configurations–from straight and upright to bent or twisted. Many are covered with moss from thick fog that rolls in from the Pacific Ocean.
We pass several trees with hollowed-out space at the base of the trunk. Some have twisted roots with pockets of air where the earth has eroded. The trees reach high toward the sky, seeking light. They seem to have been around for centuries, adjusting to the dim, seemingly haunted environment.
We’ve walked a good distance from the shoreline, away from rolling surf and the muffled sound of human voices. Evening approaches. The air takes on a hushed, cathedral-like quality. Late afternoon sun filters into usually darkened spaces, and offers a silent benediction.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 28 January 2015
Photo Credit, DAFraser, October 2012
Oswald West State Park, Oregon
I’m surprised at feelings I’ve had since I began writing Dear Dad letters. Sometimes I’m afraid I’m trying to get something from Dad that he can’t give me. I don’t think I am. I definitely feel I’m ‘out there,’ in the driver’s seat without a finished roadmap, uncertain where this will lead.
Most surprising, though, Read the rest of this entry »
Bearded cacti in Silver Garden
Longwood Gardens PA
Dear Dad,
About those ‘letters’ I mentioned in my last letter (no pun intended!)…
Here they are: Read the rest of this entry »
Pomegranate in Bonsai Garden,
Longwood Gardens
Dear Dad,
Here’s an idea I had today. I was trying to figure out how, at our ages, I would like to begin a conversation with you. So I had this wild idea, based on my experience with the other main man in my life, my husband. Read the rest of this entry »
rigid white spines
protect thick upright stem
tiny leaflets shrink
* * *
I don’t have a clue what to call this beauty.
It stands in the Silver Garden at Longwood Gardens.
Living repository of succulents, mosses and unusual trees.
All capable of living with limited water supplies.
The dark area behind it is part of a window frame.
I decided to see whether I could write a haiku
that at least captured what I was seeing in the photo.
Then I searched for cacti images to see what kind it might be.
That’s when I discovered my first effort was off the mark.
I rewrote it accordingly. I think.
It seems ‘normal’ plant logic doesn’t work here.
The spines, for example, are actually ‘leaves.’
The little green leaflets won’t develop into leaves.
Sometimes they become the source of more spines.
And then there’s that tall upright stem.
Not really a ‘spine,’ though we often call it that.
The function of the true spines (not simply thorns)
is not to protect those cute oval leaflets.
It’s to guard the cactus from predators seeking its treasure–
life-giving, water-like liquid, stored on behalf of the plant.
No, I won’t turn this into a lesson about life or death.
I just want you to know how hard I worked on this haiku for you!
Also, if you’re cactus-savvy,
and can enlighten us about what to call it
or about anything else of interest,
such as statements above that are wrong,
now’s your chance!
This is not a poem.
I decided it looked better this way.
* * *
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 22 January 2015
Photo credit: DAFraser, May 2014
Silver Garden, Longwood Gardens Pennsylvania
Dear Dad,
I’ve been thinking about you a lot this week. Wondering about things that happened and didn’t happen. Wondering what it would be like if….
Actually, I got to the ‘what if’ stage just about an hour ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Self-contempt has been my primary issue for years. Until I learned to have compassion on myself, it was almost impossible not to have contempt for others. Here’s what self-contempt has looked like Read the rest of this entry »
Contempt – intrusive, ever-present, almost impossible to pin down. But that’s exactly why I need to talk about it.
After several false starts, Read the rest of this entry »
Telling the Truth 