Democracy by Langston Hughes

Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.

I have as much right 
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet 
And own the land.

I tire so of hearing people say, 
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.

Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.

I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.

Lost by David Wagoner

Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

A Magical Shadowbox

Seldom do I tout my own work but occassionally I grow attached to a piece and find it difficult to part with. This shadowbox is one of those pieces. But I've kept it to myself long enough so I listed it today on ETSY. It does inspire me to get busy and create more shadowbox pieces. I was also deeply touched by the print here that I hand colored with colored pencil. The scene of the little boy, although from a much earlier time period, probably medieval, moved me with the couriosity of little boys - and girls - of the birth of exploration and discovery throughout the ages and the lamblike innocence of children.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/66128425/the-nest-collage-shadowbox

Mindful by Mary Oliver

Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight, 
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for -
to look, to listen, 
to lose myself
inside this soft world -
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy, 
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional, 
the fearful, the dreadful, 
the very extravagant - 
but of the ordinary, 
the common, the very drab, 
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar, 
I say to myself, 
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light
of the world, 
the ocean's shine, 
the prayers that are made
out of grass? 

Reaching for White by Lisa Shields

The sun rose on fields

snow blown and misted

ghostly swirls and dervishes.

No fog this---

for fog simply lies.

No---this was living

as it arched and twisted,

fingering out to the road

and reaching for me

like the shade of a beloved friend.

There was white inside,

trying to seep out of pores,

I felt it strain

trying to mesh and meld

with this sentient wraith

fingers touching

joining

and suddenly

I am the morning mist

dancing in the crystal air.

Tragedy in Tucson

Blessing the Boats
by Lucille Clifton
(at St. Mary's)
may the tide that is entering even now the lip of our understanding carry you out beyond the face of fear may you kiss the wind then turn from it certain that it will love your back   may you open your eyes to water water waving forever and may you in your innocence sail through this to that

In memory of Christina Taylor Green, born Sept.11, 2001, a day of tragedy in America, and murdered Jan. 8, 2011 tragically in Tucson, Aizona, USA. At 9 years of age, she was already interested in politics and went to the "Congress on the Corner" event in Tucson to see how our political system works at a grassroots level.