Fairer Still

Fair are the meadows. Fairer still the woodland, clothed in the blooming garb of spring.

Over two hours today in the car.
None of it wasted.

Friends! The dogwoods are white.
The redbuds lavender.
Some trees have a sheen of viper green.

The open fields a swath of rich green.
The peaches pink,
The forsythia yellow,
The cherries white with pink tinge.

I drove, fighting tears,
With the sun illuminating it all.
Jadon read Housman.

“Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom upon the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride,
Wearing white for Eastertide.

“Now of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

“And since to look at things in bloom,
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.”

And Abraham said,
“Now I have a new appreciation for cherries.”

As art illuminates anew
What was already there, just waiting
To be seen.

Joe's Favorite Day

When we got home from church,
We grabbed a quick lunch,
Changed into grubby clothes,
And went for a hike at a local park.

Hiking with my boys involved a lot of
Running.
They were in flip-flops, and I was in boots.
I have thirty years on Joe.
Did I mention the baby on my back?

But we ran and walked for an hour,
And after ate pretend Oreos,
And exclaimed over the green fields,
The glowing colors on the drive home.

After a homemade pizza dinner,
We drove back to town for a friend’s concert,
Then home for chocolate sprinkles on bread
Before we read a bit of an enticing book.

Over and over Joe said how much he liked this day,
His favorite day.

Chaminade

I had no repertoire.
My teacher suggested a Chaminade,
A composer I had never heard of.
I worked on it.

I can’t say now, fifteen years later,
How close I came to perfecting it.
There is a run of thirty-second notes
With a single natural circled,
Evidence that I would forget that blip.

I listened to a professional play it perfectly,
And I was astounded at my audacity
To practice such a piece,

Astounded at the power, beauty, length
Of what the younger me attempted to accomplish.

Panicked

As I learn to hear from God,
I have noticed a phenomenon.

Sometimes I need to make a decision
And I feel rushed and panicked:

Let me choose this immediately,
Lest the opportunity be lost!

I can’t think of an example
When such a decision goes well.

Hagel

My mom read a study:
What children around the world eat for breakfast?
Dutch children eat hagel, chocolate sprinkles, on bread.

What children in the world are happiest?
Dutch children are very happy.

Could there be a connection?
I ordered boxes of sprinkles.

And I think I am happier!
I prefer life with chocolate sprinkles in the morning.

The Weather

I offer this testimony.

Month after month, the weather turns
Horrid
Right as we prepare to host.

Ninety degrees when it turns a perfect 70
The next day.

Snow, rain, mud.

Month after month, Phil asks
If we should cancel
Or do something, anything!
But month after month
There is nothing to be done.

Until I pointed out this pattern.

This month, the forecast was rain in the morning.
We rolled our eyes and laughed.

Rain there was, indeed, at midnight.
Sun there was by sunrise, and gusts of wind.
By party start, I asked for no more gusts,
And no gusts came.

Sunny, chilly, dry, beautiful.

Thanks be to God.

Sometimes There Is Nothing

Three months back, a friend came to a party
And left very soon.
He hadn’t looked like he was having a good time,
And I felt the weight of that failure to provide.

Two months back, a friend came to a party
And left sort of soon.
She hadn’t looked like she was having a good time,
And I felt the shame of that failure to engage.

But I can see now that she was simply
Introverted.
Engagement will look different for her.
That doesn’t mean I failed.

And I know now that he was dealing
With hard things,
And there was nothing I could have done
To improve his time.

Sometimes there is nothing.