snow piled on snow
white on white
grey on grey
an exclamation point
of black
silence falls from the sky
and blankets
this earth
this house
this garden
my shoulders
.
i stand
arms outstretched
palms up
gathering crystals that melt
at my touch
ice queen midas
the opposite of gold
yet somehow
i feel
so rich
.
the sun and the moon
and the stars
and all things merry and bright
to all of you
and yours
.
.
laughter
.
with family and friends
at parties and quiet moments
i laughed and laughed
.
like this day
trying to take a close up photo
and being surprised
by a naughty kitten
.
.
::
Reverb 12/Cultivate 2012:
What was the greatest gift you received in 2012?
::
.
i was
one of the lucky ones
.
365 days
of crazy beautiful
precious life
were gained
.
for this
i feel blessed
.
.
.verb 12
p.s. love in a mist is the name of this flower
::
Reverb 12/Cultivate 2012:
What was lost in 2012? What do you intend to find in 2013?
::
.
i sat
in this chair
again and again
and i listened
.
.
::
Reverb 12/Cultivate 2012:
How did you nourish your beautiful body in 2012?
::
i have no place
to put
this broken heart
no shelf wide enough
no bucket deep enough
no abyss dark enough
it sits in my hand
beating
beating
beating
bleating
hope dripping
through my fingers
faster
than i can catch it
i stand here beneath
this forever sky
naked and afraid and
raise arms high
until this cracked love clock
eclipses
my view of the sun
backlit kaleidoscope prism
the color of everything
hold on
hold
on
i have no place
to put
this broken heart
.
.
.
.
i stood
in the light
and i said
yes
.
.
::
Reverb 12/Cultivate 2012:
How did you make a difference?
::
My husband and I are quite the opposites.
He is pragmatic, logical, organized, while I am the creative, disheveled romantic. We were both born the same year, but he is water and I am fire. He is taciturn, while I wear my heart on my sleeve.
We come at life very differently, he the early riser, filling his days with physical activity and work and sports. I am the night owl, and my days are filled with creative wonder and work and reading.
We meet in the middle for meals and family, vacations and holidays, and for a few minutes most nights, in front of a fire. In warm weather, we sit outside beneath the stars with our feet up and music playing. In winter, as soon as we both have finished our work and chores and activity for the day, there is the fireplace.
He will almost always be asleep before nine, while I will sit for hours reading, writing, knitting, thinking, often with whatever game he was watching still playing out unobserved on the television screen.
One night a few weeks ago, as we settled into this nightly ritual, my husband in his spot in the chair closest to the flames, me on the couch with the best view, and all the animals filed in to take their nightly places in this oh-so-quiet drama, (the two gray girls in the chair with him, the two male cats rearranging themselves at whim, and the dog in the extra chair) my husband looked at me and said, “so, here we are.”
We both laughed and settled in.
Indeed.
.
.
::
Reverb 12/Cultivate 2012:
How can you nurture a healthy, loving relationship with your partner?
::
