Monday, February 22, 2010

goddess #26

 

shingle creek
flows south
filling the everglades
teeming still with life.

even here
white ibis
flocks of robins
anhinga
are reflected in the slow moving water
and finches flit
from branch to branch
amidst drapes of spanish moss.

life continues in its myriad forms

  

Tucked behind suburban homes I walked along a small canal, its banks alive with robins, cardinals, and small finches filling the air with birdsong . . . later i found this small, green, wet lushness . . . home to  family of  wading ibis . . . shingle creek comprises the headwaters of the everglades . . . a fact learned from markers along the beachline, the major east-west roadway connecting orlando to the kennedy space center . . .this goddess, with heart wide open, embraces all of the creatures living in her new environment . . .  later, walking back to my car i found this great blue heron, peacefully fishing at the edge of the water.


 

Monday, February 15, 2010

goddess #25

 

sky, a cloudless blue
at this intersection of 
synagogue, mosque, and church
palms rustle
birds sing
peace is here today

may we recognize our common humanity
celebrate our cultural differences
and cultivate peace in ourselves
and peace in the world.




The first time I went to the Jewish Community Center to check out the gym, my mom told me to turn at the mosque . . .when I made the turn I noticed that a fundamentalist Christian Church was across the street . . . I later learned that the mosque and JCC cooperate by offering each other additional parking when one or the other had an event . . .  it seems wonderful that in this small corner of the world people of various religious orientations worship so close together, that they are able to interact constructively, and hopefully learn that each is ultimately human, with the same hopes and dreams for happiness, safety, and health for themselves and their loved ones.

Monday, February 8, 2010

goddess #24

 

feathery clouds meander across blue sky
hawks circling lazily
and below people walk listlessly
past sunshine coin laundry
forgotten neighborhood
bordering spanking new downtown
sports complex-university-cultural-center
and acres of parking for suburban visitors.

may we open our eyes to see all of humanity without fear




  

The area near the clay studio where I work is a study in contrasts . . . to get there I drive past a still-under-construction major sports complex, a new technical university, a major theatre complex and the existing home of the Orlando Magic . . . just blocks away, across the tracks, are crumbling homes, vacant lots, and homeless people wandering the streets toting backpacks, shopping carts, and plastic bags. . . people on the fringes, invisible for the most part to those attending events in the stadiums and theatres nearby. . . it makes me wonder how many people could be housed and fed with just the money allocated to the new video screen on the new sports complex.


Monday, February 1, 2010

goddess #23

 

ferns spread amongst cypress knees,
beneath palms and drapes of spanish moss
a breath of wild
a place to stop
beside a busy road. . . 

may we remember to breathe peace in the midst of our busy lives.


 

Driving along Central Florida Parkway, lined with bedroom communities - gated and ungated - I noticed a stand of cypress draped in spanish moss . . . the earth was carpeted with ferns, and palms emerged from the undergrowth . . . highway trash littered the ground but the lush foliage camouflaged it for the most part. It was an oasis of peace despite the cars and trucks that roared and rushed along the road just a few yards away.