not without sin

a sin to throw away anything

that might still have usefulness

child that i am of parents

who started married life together

early in the Great Depression 

Mom left cupboard after cupboard

of washed, capped jars as i have one such low kitchen cabinet stocked

with glass containers ready 

for second, third or tenth use

magazine envelopes yield large scraps

of paper for shopping lists or cut down

to 3 x 5 for index cards

rubber bands securing asparagus

are wound around a plastic tube on

my desk, some waiting their next duty

until old age robs them of elasticity so

they quietly snap at touch lying

in useless line where their lifework had been the ability to encircle and hold

together as mine was to continue

saving and building until i, too

lie down, unable any longer

to gather scraps or to mend the broken bits the world has handed me

or to enfold and protect those i love

until they can grow and flourish

whiner in chief

whining self-pity

leaves no will to stand or fight

little urge to grow

wrinkled gratitude

wrinkles are part of me now

and colored spots sprinkled on dry skin

but my funnybone still thrives

and my eye for the glory of a sunrise

and my awe at the power

of generosity, so, despite the aches

and fears, life is still a precious gift

for which there are no adequate words

of gratitude

WiG response

serious essay about our penchant

for violence provoked deep discussion

for Writers in the Grove

afterwards, a plaintive call for a joke

so, we did a 2-minute prompt based

on the tongue-in-cheek story earlier

about children eating spiders

the gang came up with hilarious

responses - as always, quick-witted

and widely various

our WiGs contribute to much-needed sanity

in a nutshell

crack open a nutshell

to get at the seed-meat

foreknowledge that nourishment

is to be had that way

needed to be learned

yet we laugh at ‘dumb’ animals

before we take the humbling time

to watch, to study, to learn

there is far more to living beings

‘than is dreamt of’

in our philosophy and our arrogance

supercilious

‘we’ were so certain when i was small

that formula was superior to breast milk

without recognizing individual needs

of specific infants

that asphalt would make better roads

more traffic, more commerce

without realizing the runoff would pollute streams

or the dark surface would contribute to global warming

that ‘greed is good’ was local only

without imagining that the quest for

more and yet more did little good

even for the greedy one accumulating

ah, if we could approach our being

with a bit of humility, of awareness

of so much greater than ourselves

because we may be late in finally

accepting our arrogance is killing us

knowing the pulse

driving by trees thinking of changing to autumn attire

reaching the coast watching waves eternal rhythmic nibbling at the shore

knowing the pulse of life

i seldom slow enough to feel

                        mjNordgren  9/25/2022  N

believe what you will

haiku

 still flat-earthers sure

north pole rises mid pancake

south pole outer rim

hate, too

     haiku

pain and fear encage

blinding panoramic views

of the joy of life

                        mjNordgren  5/29/2022  N