“In our lives, change is unavoidable, loss is unavoidable. In the adaptability and
ease with which we experience change, lies our happiness and freedom.” — Buddha
Photography
“Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn
your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.” — Henry David Thoreau
“I wish I could show you,
when you are lonely or in darkness,
The astonishing light of your own being…”
Hafiz of Shiraz
On this long storm the Rainbow rose
by Emily Dickinson
On this long storm the Rainbow rose —
On this late Morn — the Sun —
The clouds — like listless Elephants —
Horizons — straggled down —
The Birds rose smiling, in their nests —
The gales — indeed — were done —
Alas, how heedless were the eyes —
On whom the summer shone!
The quiet nonchalance of death —
No Daybreak — can bestir —
The slow — Archangel’s syllables
Must awaken her!
It isn’t what a picture is of, it is what it is about. — John Szarkowski
Today’s gallery will be the 45th edition of Leanne Cole and Laura Macky’s Monochrome Madness. If you would like to participate and submit a photo in the coming weeks, please email your image to leanne@leannecole.com.au and include a link to your blog or website if you have one. It doesn’t have to be WordPress blogger, it can be a Facebook page, a Flickr page, etc. Include your name or your blog name. The image size should be low res, so the largest size should be 1000 pixels or less. The deadline for submission is before 6 p.m. on or before Tuesday, Melbourne time. The earlier the better for Leanne. If you miss the deadline your posting will be the following week. The complete instructions are posted on Leanne’s blog should you have any questions or need help. ❆
❄_❄
Against Winter
by Charles Simic
The truth is dark under your eyelids.
What are you going to do about it?
The birds are silent; there’s no one to ask.
All day long you’ll squint at the gray sky.
When the wind blows you’ll shiver like straw.
A meek little lamb you grew your wool
Till they came after you with huge shears.
Flies hovered over open mouth,
Then they, too, flew off like the leaves,
The bare branches reached after them in vain.
Winter coming. Like the last heroic soldier
Of a defeated army, you’ll stay at your post,
Head bared to the first snow flake.
Till a neighbor comes to yell at you,
You’re crazier than the weather, Charlie.
Imaginary Field Mice
by Marina Gipps
Their tails coil in a field where there is no wind,
no sound, no breath. We call this nature,
long after it has died, risen as fields full of wheat
sown for no one. I could walk forever without you
so I will, but today you follow me,
serenade a secret tale in my long lost ear.
I have heard it before, have told this song
to go away and for you to never play it again.
Yet again you play, so I must listen,
you give me no choice so I deliriously obey.
Such is life, I am told how creatures multiply
in a field of my imagining. Their shrieks bathed in moonlight
again and again and again. For this, all this,
I do not sleep. Have been told to count
what I do not see. I am counting intangibles
for you here, and I there.
✬
“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.” — Pablo Neruda
“The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud — the obstacles of life and its suffering. … The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. … Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one.” ― Goldie Hawn
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”To suddenly bump into a flower that’s hot — “
Maverick Mist 