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- abandoned
- absence of light
sunshine after gray rain
sunshine this morning after gray
days of sudden, intense showers
how dependent we humans are
on that sparkle of warmth and light
for inner joy to give us hope
material things
Material Things
Warm and soft, caressing my shoulders. Mom was wrapping the fluffy beach towel around my shaking, four-year-old frame. I’d again stayed playing in Lake Erie’s chill water until my skin was wrinkled, and then, knowing better, sat in the shade of the elm inventing adventures for the twig men I’d found among the rocks of Kelley Island’s sandless shore.
“You should have come in long ago,” Mom scolded with a smile.
“I know, Mom.” I did know. I’d even thought about it when my teeth started to chatter, but the stories those bits of wood were drawing from me were too fascinating to be interrupted by discomfort I barely felt until the trembling and shaking made me run to the cottage. I knew I’d be greeted by terrycloth baked in sunshine on the clothesline strung from the back porch to the corner of the outhouse.
My shoulders snuggled in fluffed warmth, the rest of me could drip until all of me, too, was baked in sunlight, recovery, acceptance, security. The texture of that towel told me I was loved.
in memory of Virginia Heald
In memory of Virginia Heald
Haiku
gentle soul smiles welcome
bending to help without a word
but encouragement
mjNordgren 2/16/2024 N
kitchen on Give Thanks morning
comment from Eileen gives author hope
the oven is on low
sweet potatoes, yellow and orange
baking in brown sugar butter
aroma just emerging into the kitchen
anticipating Thanksgiving
smell of the warmth of joy
warm day finally
a warm day, finally
even my light sweater shed
as we walked by the little shops
in old town McMinnville
delighting that spring gives
promise that hard winter
is at last letting go
person to person
how we communicate acceptance with loving laughter!
sweet laughter, throaty chuckle, lingering smile
nothing tells more of human warmth
we have drunk full
An original love poem by MaryJane Nordgren
we have drunk full, my love
swelled with the rynthm of incoming waves pounding earthly shore
connecting anemone, zebra,
and human
we have felt the tumult
of birthing waves roiled by breezes, currents, tides
our peace landed in stars
we have known
hovering, intense sky
algid, bleak, raw cold
embrittled bare twigs scratching
at ice-laced windows when frost
has cemented each breath of life
and each inhalation burned
you reached out
reminding me that love
like life
is gift watched over by angels
my love, we have drunk the wind
love in abundance
An original poem by MaryJane Nordgren
ah, the love in abundance
in this family
generation upon generation giving in support
through tough times
traveling inconvenient miles in difficult conditions
to be there when needed
to see the hurting re-created in warmth
and laughter