Fear me...

Flames I challenge you don’t look so proud...
Even if your blazes scream out loud...
I am the chill that you fear…
I am from tales you hear…
You can’t scare me with that heat…
I am someone you can’t beat…
Fear me flames you’ve met your match…
Flames I challenge you…you’re lights I’ll catch…

I Challenge You
Photo and words by: دبه كتكوته

A Lifelong Commitment...

A Mother's Love , originally uploaded by The Sage of Shadowdale

What is a Mother's love?

It is something that is very, very special.

It is something that no one can really explain.

It's something that is made up of much deep
devotion, joy, pain and sacrifice.

It is endless and unselfish and it endures
whatever may come.

It is full of hopes, dreams, tears and pleasure.

Nothing can ever destroy it or take that
special love away.

It is very patient and forgiving.

A Mother's love is a lifelong commitment
to selflessness.

More often than not, it requires much more
giving than receiving.

But it is something that is given with delight,
gratitude, enthusiasm and much satisfaction.

A Mother's love never fails or falters even
though the heart is breaking.

It is always believing when all the rest of the
world is condemning.

A Mother's love is a splendored miracle that man
cannot understand.

It is something that cannot be measured,
for it has no beginning or no end.

A MOTHER'S LOVE

.

Wondrous Evidence...

New Love, originally uploaded by The Sage of Shadowdale

A Mother's love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.

A Mother's Love
~Helen Steiner Rice~

When was the last time...

glitter-graphics.com

When was the last time you...

Had a conversation with the moon?
Or made wish on a falling star?

Held hope from a string of delicate things?

When was the last time you got lost...
In an enchanted woods?
Or were kissed by prince
Who turned into a frog?
Consulted a caterpillar?
Or kidnapped a myth?
Had a visit from your faery godmother
Who turned pumpkins into coaches
And wishes into wings?

When was the last time you...
Cried lost tears in to the lake of longing
Or sipped inspiration from the pool of wonder?
Or rose, victorious, like phoenix from the ashes?

When did you last...
Lay your head in the lap of awe
And listen a song
From a distant shore...
Called home?

The time is now
Leap, Soar, Explore
Remember your dreams
And unseen things
Sing with rapture
And dance...dance
Dance like a Dervish
And when imagination knocks
Open the door...

A Knock on The Door by duirwaigh

A little bit of magic, originally uploaded by Talis

.

The Rain...

glitter-graphics.com

All night the sound had
come back again
and again falls
this quite persistent rain.
What am I to myself
that must be remembered,
insisted upon
so often? Is it
that never the ease,
even the hardness,
of the rain falling
will have for me
something other than this,
something not so insistent ---
am I to be locked in this
final uneasiness.
Love, if you love me,
lie next to me.
Be for me, like rain,
the getting out
of the tiredness,
the fatuousness,
the semi-lust of
intentional indifference.
Be wet
With a decent happiness.

- Robert Creeley

If Music be the Food of Love...

glitter-graphics.com

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.

That strain again; it had a dying fall;
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour.

Enough; no more;
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou!

That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soever,
But falls into abatement and low price

Even in a minute! so full of shapes is fancie,
That it alone is high-fantastical.

William Shakespeare

glitter-graphics.com

Autumn..

Autumn Fairy, available at Terra Maga

Falling leaves slowly drifting
The wind comes along and then it goes swifting
Conkers crashing on the ground
Making a lovely crispy sound
Brown leaves spiraling together
Gentle breezes in the wood
Evergreen trees staying green which is very, very good.

"An Autumn Poem " by Catherine "Cat"

In her Mother's Love...

IMG_0728, originally uploaded by jembitz
OUZIZBOO#21, End Times, Jenny Greenberg Studio: The Manipulator

"Do you like my dress?" she asked of a passing stranger..
"My mommy made it just for me."She said with a tear in her eye.
"Well, I think it's very pretty, so tell me little one, why are you crying?"

With a quiver in her voice the little girl answered.
"After Mommy made me this dress, she had to go away."

"Well, now," said the lady,
"with a little girl like you waiting for her, I'm sure she'll be right back."

"No ma'am, you don't understand," said the child through her tears,
"my Daddy said that she's up in heaven now with Grandfather."

Finally the woman realized what the child meant,
and why she was crying.
Kneeling down she gently cradled the child in her arms
and together they cried for the mommy that was gone.

Then suddenly the little girl did something
that the woman thought was a bit strange.
She stopped crying, stepped back from the woman and began to sing.

She sang so softly that it was almost a whisper.
It was the sweetest sound the woman had ever heard,
almost like the song of a very small bird.

After the child stopped singing she explained to the lady,
"My mommy used to sing that song to me before she went away,
and she made me promise to sing it whenever I started crying
and it would make me stop."
"See," she exclaimed, "it did, and now my eyes are dry!"

As the woman turned to go, the little girl grabbed her sleeve,
"Lady, can you stay just a minute? I want to show you something."
"Of course," she answered, "what do you want me to see?"

Pointing to a spot on her dress, she said,
"Right here is where my Mommy kissed my dress, and here,"
pointing to another spot, "and here is another kiss, and here, and here,"
"Mommy said that she put all those kisses on my dress
so that I would have her kisses for every boo-boo that made me cry."

Then the lady realized that she wasn't just looking at a dress,
no, she was looking at a Mother...
Who knew that she was going away
and would not be there to kiss away the hurts
that she knew her daughter would get.

So she took all the love she had for her beautiful little girl
and put them into this dress, that her child now so proudly wore.
She no longer saw a little girl in a simple dress.
She saw a child wrapped... in her Mother's love.

~the dress, winters child~

Like a Queen...

Building Sand Castle, originally uploaded by Flowers4zoe,
Photo taken by Sean Montreal
Canberra, Australia

I dug in the sand and I carefully made
A big sand castle with my pail and spade.
I felt like a queen in a golden crown
Until the blue sea washed my sand castle down.
So I dug again in that sandy shore
Until I had a bigger castle
and was queen once more!

-Author Unknown

A Rose to make it sweet...

Roses in bloom, originally uploaded by Mitchcraft

No garden is ever really complete
without a rose to make it sweet,
No life is ever full or fair
without someone to share and care!

There is no garden so complete
but roses could make the place more sweet.
There is no life so rich and rare
but one more friend can enter there.

Garden of Friendship
By: Helen Steiner Rice

Into Gold...

Water Ripple, originally uploaded by y.showalter

There are many fish in the ocean that swim and swirl
But it's the oyster that turns water into Pearl;
Ideas numerous, as many drops as the ocean can hold
But it's the person who can turn ideas into gold.

The Pearl
© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 20 , 1997

It will rain...

I know I will never reach that place
That which is so crowded yet so lonely
This is where true joy lies unfolded
Amidst swirls of laughter
Amongst friends to share
I don't want to reach that place
That which is so dark and void
Yet the eyes will begin to empty themselves
And begin to create a hollow inside
The tears, they flow on the surface
Unaware about the pain within
Unaware of the life below
And then it will rain.

And then it will rain
@ Caesura by Shruti Koparkar

Tears...

glitter-graphics.com

Tears on my pillow
From a sleepless night
Wondering why
You upped & took flight

I know I’m not perfect
But I strive to be
The best that
One can possibly be

My heart & soul
Belong only to you
I wish you’d believe me
Wish it’d get through

Talks of our future
All that we shared
That was reality for me
You said it was just words

I miss you more
Than I can ever say
Maybe just maybe
You’ll call today

Tears on my pillow by airhead

Azalea...

Azaleas in Bloom, originally uploaded by Flowers4Zoe

I picked an azalea
And brought it home.
Now when I contemplate it,
In its crimson dye
I see the color
Of my lover's robe.

—Lady Izumi Shikibu

The Oak Tree...

Ancient Oak, originally uploaded by noopzilla

A mighty wind
Blew night and day
It stole the oak tree's leaves away

Then snapped its boughs
And pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground
While other trees fell all around
The weary wind gave up and spoke
How can you still be standing Oak

The oak tree said, I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two
Carry every leaf away
Shake my limbs, and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth
Growing stronger since my birth
You'll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn't sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I've found, with thanks to you
I'm stronger than I ever knew.

~ Author Unknown ~
The Oak Tree

Lotus...like beautiful woman...

Summer Light, originally uploaded by Giovanni88Ant

"The leaves break the bandage of the green stem,
stretch themselves and form a green pool with untidy edges.
Now the flower comes from out of the vast surface of the water,
just like a very beautiful woman coming gracefully from her bath."

~translated from an old Chinese poem

The Size of your Heart...

My Heart Grows, photos taken by Sean Montreal
Originally uploaded by Flowers4Zoe

It isn't the size of your house as such,
That matters so much at all;
It's the gentle hand and its loving touch,
That make it great or small.

The friends who come and the hour they go,
Who out of your house depart;
Will judge it not by the style you show,
But rather ... by the size of your heart.

It isn't the size of your head so much,
It isn't the wealth you found;
What will make you happy is how you touch,
The other lives that are all around.

For making money is not hard,
To live life well is an art:
How people love you and how they regard ...
Is all in the size of your heart.

~ Author Unknown ~

The Hands of Time...

The Hands of Time, originally uploaded by darin11111

The hands of time cannot erase
The thoughts of you and your embrace
The longing for a single kiss
Your touch, your voice, I always miss
The hands of time, like the rolling sea
Cannot wash away what you mean to me
My Heart, My Soul, I'll give to you
The greatest Love I ever knew T
The hands of time, that past so fast
My Love for you will always last
To be together, is on my mind
This special love, is one of a kind
The hands of time,
We cannot turn back
But Love and Devotion, you will never lack
I vow to you, You will always be
The only Man in my life for me
The hands of time, will stop one day
But there is one thing to you,
I'll say If I should go before you do
I'll be there waiting, for only you.

~Beckie Martell

Let me age...

Floating Cottons, originally posted by Mitchcraft

Clouds do not stand still.
Trees bloom, then shed their leaves.
Tides come to shore, then retreat.
Night follows day which in turn follows night.
Life is a constant cycle,
Ever changing, yet never changing
And we are a part of it all.

We will be here for a time, but only until our time is done.
We have only just so much time to make our mark,
So that we are worth remembering.
We should realize that we are as important as the clouds,
The tides and the seasons.
We have our place and must play our part as best
We can in life's ever-unfolding story.
Let me age Lord, gracefully.
In love and strength and dignity.
Let me grow in wisdom each day.
And be a blessing in some little way.

~Change a Natural of Life (Valerie Bauer Rousseau)

Give Thanks...

Intoxicating, originally posted by egefan

Early morning dawn
Mist swirls mid the trees
Dew heavy on the lawn
Awed I drop to my knees.

Suns rays filter through the haze
God’s gift of light so bright
Such a sight to amaze
God’s wondrous morning light.

Dazzled by His Blessings
I continue on my way
Giving praise and confessing
Giving thanks as I pray.

The trees that give us life
The oxygen that we need
Crisp air removes my strife
On His gifts my spirits feed.

Song birds sing His praise
While flowers bloom His colours
These gifts I do appraise
And give thanks that it’s all ours.

~A Walk in the Woods by Larry Matthews