#gratitude

dawn: the emergence of light gives us hope

/ Joy Lenton / 4 Comments 

Splash of glory

Sunlight laps at the edges
of fading night,
lifts its concealing cloak

by slow increments 
as dawn begins to break
and a sleepy world awakes.

Petals unfurl themselves 
to welcome sun,
spread wide their fragrant arms

like a benediction 
quivering in the breeze
as they bless who they please.

Birds announce their presence—
morning chorus 
resounds into skeined sky

as orchestrated 
hymns of grateful praise
rise, fill the airways.

It’s new every morning,
old as the hills,
this bright splash of glory

freely fills and spills,
lifts our hearts heavenward
in reverence and awe.
© joylenton

Dawn blessing

Bless the dawn—
the dawn of creation,
the dawn of sentience,
the dawn of creatures
great and small,
the dawn of gardens and plants,
of flowers and waterfalls.

Bless the dawn—
the dawn of mankind,
the dawn of hope
to encourage our hearts,
the dawn of new life,
the dawn of embracing it
with joy, wonder, and love.

Bless the dawn—
the dawn of invention,
the dawn of innovation
through the centuries,
the dawn of creativity,
the dawn of great ideas,
of light igniting for you and me.

— joylenton

Cascades: observe all the blossoming

/ Joy Lenton / 6 Comments

“Attention is the beginning of devotion.” — Mary Oliver

Experiences flow through our lives, our days, resembling a gushing waterfall that cascades. They arrive as moments of quiet reflectiveness, an exuberant drowning in sound sometimes, or a sudden stir of the heart that takes our breath away.

We experience a snapshot of seconds, a microcosm of inhabited moments, and a movie reel of minutes that pass all too fleetingly.

We all have occasions when we long to turn back time. Wouldn’t it be great to freeze-frame the highlights and press pause on the best moments of our lives?

Perhaps we could try to pay greater attention to it all, especially the golden glimpses that warm our souls.


Observing our lives is a lot like prayer. It’s gratitude in motion. A sacred act of appreciation and devotion.

We see more when we look with deliberate intent, seek to record with our eyes, and store away in our minds.

I’ve attempted to do that here as I view a pear tree releasing its blossom, listen to birdsong in the trees and the midday hymn singing.

Cascades

Cascades of confetti 
carpet the grass, veil the trees,
drape the garden 
plants, line the pathways,
as soft white blossom
drifts silently, 
detaches itself 
from its original home
on the pyrus communis
where it belongs.

Cascades of birdsong 
trill through the trees,
be they walnut, pear,
apple or oak
or magnificent magnolia,
as it lilts through the leaves,
threads its way
between the boughs, and arches
across the divide
where bony branches stretch.

Cascades of voices
sing out their praise,
whether wobbly and weak
or with vigour and strength
as the notes 
signal a hymn, unknown 
or familiar, 
for each one stems from
a grateful heart 
tuned into hope and love.
© joylenton

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” — Henry Ward Beecher

ordinary: the gift of the sacred ordinary

/ Joy Lenton / 4 Comments

“The great lesson from the true mystics is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends, and family.” — Abraham Maslow

Poetry is the latch

stretch out open palms
feel for things beyond your ken
that lie close at hand

search for hidden key
poetry becomes the latch
we're invited in

it's an open door
it's a large, hallowed hallway
we find ourselves here

we're always welcome
removing secular shoes
helps us to listen

wait for mystery
to reveal its heart within
rhythm, metre, words

while our souls expand
to take in the universe
and savour beauty

as we exhale dust
and leave our worries behind
now, on the doorstep

we breathe in soul peace
mixed with mercy, love and grace
the air of this place

knowing we can stay
as night segues into daylight
cares are cast away

and we are laid bare
readied to receive again
drops of holy rain
© joylenton

“Yet mostly we remain unconscious of the fact that even in this simplest fulfilling of our daily needs we are partaking of the holiest mysteries of the sacred within the commonplace of our own kitchen. Great is to be found in little.” — Alice O. Howell, The Dove in the Stone

Gracious Father,

Thank you for the glory that surrounds us, revealed here and there in the smallest of moments, the tiniest glimpses and awe-struck seconds when we pause to notice it.

You inhabit the everyday with your extraordinary power and grace. It is saturated with your joy, exuberance, and peace. Open our eyes to see the humdrum, the ordinary, the mundane as nothing less than sacred ground.

The whole earth has been fertilised with the seeds of your sacred Presence, your divine favour, mercy, generosity, abundance, and love. But we so often overlook it because we’re too focused on below life rather than above.

Help us to sense you in the daily and pay attention to what you are saying through creation’s beauty, in our activities and tasks, and our attempts at seeing and listening hard.
Amen

change: on yearnings, adaptation, and gratitude for where we are now

/ Joy Lenton / Leave a comment

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” — Henry David Thoreau

Yearning for change

These naked limbs, 
licked and warmed 
by sun’s soft caress,
have their arms open 

for an early entry 
of spring, longing deep
at the heart 
for sap to rise again 

and the blooming
of buds to start
to burst forth, giving them
a new dress, new chorus.

Each branch,
every stem 
and arthritic twig reaches
up to the heavens,

like a prayer, a plea
to be noticed,
to be spared the worst
of winter’s onslaught,
and to have a fresh
covering of leaves
as chill winds blow,
leaving them drawn taut. 

But even so,
they might forget just how
majestic they are 
in their pared back 

barrenness, their state 
of cold undress,
which has its own perfect 
beauty we observe, its own

form of sculptural loveliness,
as we stop and pause
from our labours
to watch nature at work. 
© joylenton

“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” — Rachel Carson

This poem arose when I paid attention to the apple tree outside our living room window. The more I studied it throughout the day, the more my sympathies were engaged and my gratitude enhanced for simply being here, acting as a silent observer of its wintry state and potential future growth. Because immersing ourselves in nature, in small ways and large, is a great way to stir creativity and bring us a deeper measure of soul peace.

“Change” happens to be my #oneword365 for Poetry Joy this year. Where are you receiving reflective thoughts from the created world as it beds down for winter yet retains a new kind of beauty in its structure, its place of peace and quiet repose? Do share below. 🙂 ❤

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” — Eckhart Tolle