Sorrow and Hope

Red AmitaiAsif

Photo: Amitai Asif

 

Like pebbles on the beach

Like grains of sand

Like leaves upon the trees

Like flowers in a meadow

May we never be alone

In sorrow

And in hope.

May we find solace

In each other

And may compassion

Weave heart strands together

So we remember

How alike we are

Each one its own true flower

Each one part of the whole

In sorrow

And in hope.

 

 

For The Daily Post

Wacky Loo

 

PottyLaugh SmadarHalperinEpshtein

LEGOLAND, Deutschland; Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

 

It may not be the best planning

(Though extra points for depiction geared

For universal understanding …)

To include such giggle-making signing

Right where many are aligning

With legs already crossed in short queue pining …

 

 

 

For The Daily Post

Earth’s Crescendo

flood OfirAsif

Photo: Ofir Asif

 

As night gives way to day

And rain to sunshine

In cycles of expected

Understanding,

May we not forget

How our steps and deeds

Feed the beat of storms

Intensifying

Spur the crush of waves

Amplifying

Augment the tremors of fault lines

Magnifying

In

Earth’s crescendo,

Notifying.

 

 

 

For The Daily Post

Infinitely Finite

100_1395

Photo: Na’ama Yehuda

 

Within the infinite expanse

So immeasurably borderless

In perpetual ebb

And flow

And breath

And glow,

There hides

The implausible

Yet glaringly finite

Reality

That it too

Is delimited

By wind

And storm

And distant shores.

 

 

 

For The Daily Post

Wait a Minute!

camoflage AmitaiAsif

Photo: Amitai Asif

 

I love the tension captured in this photo of partially camouflaged Nubian Ibex. This “wait a moment!” stare-at-the-camera image was taken in the fraction between the two does realizing the human’s proximity and them springing away.

 

 

For The Photo Challenge

Elevate

Abel Tasman Coast Track InbarAsif

Abel Tasman Coast Track; Photo: Inbar Asif

 

Hold up those who are too small

So they, too, can have a view

And visibility.

Hoist up those who are too timid

Or are silenced

So they, too, can have a voice

And secure platform.

Elevate the discourse

On behalf of those

Who had forgotten

Or had become accustomed

To degraded declarations,

And so can use a gentle template

How.

Offer a hand to those most in need

Of a perspective

So they may see

Broader horizons

For understanding

Not just might

But heart and mind.

 

 

 

For The Daily Post

Educate

alma in class

Photo: Osnat Halperin-Barlev

 

Any space

Will do

If you take time

To teach

Yourself

Your doll

Or anyone

Who will sit

Long enough

To listen …

But mostly

Yourself

Again,

Because what you

Choose

To replicate

Is what you teach

Today,

And what

Becomes

Your tomorrow.

 

 

 

For The Daily Post

A Structure – In Memoriam

SwissChardFarmersMarket

Photo: Kathryn Cameron

 

This is my second response to this week’s photo-challenge. However, I post it not for me but in memory of the photographer who’d taken it, Kathryn Cameron. This week marks five years since her passing and she is deeply missed by all who knew her. I know she’s thought of every single day.

Kathryn had sent me this photo of Swiss Chard from that day’s Farmer’s Market haul. She was washing the greens and something about that leaf’s structure and composition led her to position it on the window-sill and photograph it.

Beyond the stunning beauty of this natural masterpiece of leaf, I remember finding the pink veins as somehow representative of the tenacious carriers of both nutrients and chemotherapy inside Kathryn, who at the time was battling a recurrence of the cancer that would not long after take her life. The vibrant green and light shining through mirrored Kathryn’s indomitable spirit and her love of nature and all growing, flowering, living things. The leaf, placed against the sky, became a miniature Tree of Life, the manifestation of her loving heart and dedication to healing pain and trauma, offering succor, and living as a compassionate soul upon this earth. Now in the beyond.

This post is for you, Kathryn.

I love you more.

 

For The Photo Challenge