rain in darkness

heart-drumming rain

confides the terror

of its fall

to the metal roof

oddly comforting

the sleepy people below

on the hedge

we seldom risk it all'

“Only bet what you can afford to lose!” seems good advice

until the moment comes we must decide who and what we are

will a sneak suffice? or will it bring us down in our own estimation

for the rest of our lives?

we are forced to look again at what we can afford to lose:

ourselves

*

Readers Comment: “WOW! Pray we take the time and have the wisdom to make best choices.” SA Oregon

unpacific storm

 wrathful waters

gray-green writhings

spouting white anger

in a beauty not to be touched

only witnessed from safe shore

Readers Comments: “I can feel the intense wind and spray coming ashore.” “I love the beauty of a stormy sea.” “I reread and LOVE this - except that it is SO Pacific, to be unpacific.” “Visiting the Oregon coast, were you? Great phraseology, MaryJane!” “You use words beautifully”

quiet times of healing

quiet times of healing

seem to take away

from life

so much to be done

so many deadlines missed

so many ‘ought to’s

so many ‘need to’s

so much busy-ness

it is difficult to recognize

true priorities

and allow ourselves to hear

the still, small voice

country dweller

“Weren’t you afraid?”

the city man asked

i squinted, trying to remember

”No, not afraid. Awed.

I smiled and whispered

to him, ‘You are beautiful,’

and the bobcat, not twenty

feet from me, preened. He

knew I was an admirer, not

an enemy.”

not the first or last time

i’ve seen a wild creature

eye-to-eye

showoff storm

showoff storm

watercolor sky

and seascape

changing in the hail

wind gusts causing gulls

to land like drunken sailors

and ruffling tail and wing

feathers as they huddle

on the beach

sudden torrents of rain

beating, roiling sand

beneath the surface

to muddy gold-brown

churning the water

into foam white and gray-green

purple-blue in the shadows

of black-purple-gray clouds

this day in weather

google remembers for me

snow, sleet and cold

this day years ago

i am satisfied with rain

chill and fog filling

the valley below like

a milky lake

slow response

over many years

i’ve learned – most times –

not to react in anger

but to respect

my body

and soul’s reaction

and wait until my head

truly tempers my emotions

only then can i speak or

write with kindness

compassion takes a bit longer

laugh’s on me

once - not all that long ago -

i was able, competent

but sadness and pain

have worn me down

to where all there is left

to do is laugh

be‘witching’ insight

be’witching’ insight

 seeing a witch doll

sprawled halfway up

a telephone pole

as though she’d lost

her way in the fog

and crashed her broom

i realized then

my favorite characters

sprawl the spectrum

of good and bad

noble and sneaky

gentle and nasty

just as my favorite

people do

high above enriches

luncheon at the inn at spanish head

tenth story windows overlook

sweep on incoming waves

and irregular sand beach

for miles south

with lifts of evergreen hills

couples below walking

holding hands among driftwood

allowing white foam to caress

bare ankles and take them

to distances and lengths of time

that replenish perspective

and deepen commitment

mj toddler aware

(Kelley Island, Lake Erie, 1944)

camp songs and spirituals

sung in various keys

with doubtful harmonies

but deep feelings of sharing

around a campfire among the rocks

with vivid sparks leaping

to the black sky

and falling back, fading

to nothing

only memories

of belonging

                        mjNordgren  10/25/2021  n

gold moon song

gold moon song

autumn moon

full chested as

an operatic bass

rising above the horizon

orange gold, gargantuan

even stealing across a pond

to create a duet

a huge, haunting

song of the night

accompanied by strains

of purple cloud

ah, what a morning

pastel pre-dawn

muted by mist

over fields of fog

hiding autumn arrays

emerging energized

by outlandish orange orb

                        mjNordgren  10/19/2021  n

let ‘other’ speak

i write each day for hours, pouring

my intimate insights and conversations

with patients and friends

and anguished strangers

into the dialogue of characters

hoping to help us learn

to empathize

with ‘other’

september sunrise

faint yellow
resting on smudged orange
and shy pink on hazy violet
atop somber blue quieting
promise of sky-blue-pink
settled on dawn-promise indigo
of far distant hills

at sea

i am so much less

than i dreamed of being

hoped i might be

but i have loved

and been loved
joy is enough

written at sea from Costa Rica to Fort Lauderdale, January 2019

howl

i watch depression grow

as reality takes some lives

and alters function in others

loved and ‘undeserving’

of such pain

and again, personal fear

and anger blind so many

to recognizing others

as fosters of our best

selves needed to combat

if never conquer

entropy and loss

we’ve allowed

the despairing wolf

within us all

to howl

even more grateful

even more grateful

retesting to reassure

gathering to joy

seeing love well

in each of us

knowing how we’ve missed the hugs

the delicious smoked pork lunch

the teasing of the waiter-son

of a beloved friend

the talk and laughter

laughter and talk

hours spent remembering

catching up

laughing

family is my world

humbled

astonished

with each prayer

that the creator

of the universe

is listening

to mine