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Spring Awakes
by Rebecca S Russell

The first soft days
Of Spring announce
Demeter's growing joy,
Their lengthening light
Followed in quick succession
By dainty snowdrops
Crocus and, of course,
The daffodils.
The earth awakens
From its long sleep,
Shrugging off
The heavy browns and grays
Of Winter
And donning
A lighter, brighter palette
That infuses the soul
With the shimmering warmth
Of hope.
A Jeweled Day
by Susan K. de Vegter

Here it's a misty morning where Dixie shines through grays
Its like a spring time blossom, not like a summer's day
The sun is on the other side just like a bright new smile
Except for cloaks of milky foam it'd be a day so fine
Now and then a sparkle , a string all golden bred
Shoots through like jeweled silk strung out on liquid thread
It rains a mist of silver and when a palm extends
It dresses down the fingers and to the heart extends
Funny how a day becomes much more for a thought
When beads of fluid love is palmed , caressed, absorbed and
caught
Weekend days in Dixie , all warm and not forgotten
Another memory stays with me... steeped in gentle cotton
Dressed in kind with softness close against the flesh
Emotionally enamored by days that seem to mesh
The likeness of yesterday, the dejavu of bliss
I love the dreary days like this and all the times I missed
Wallowing indoors, rummaging through old things
Opening up rusted tears upon awakening old dreams.


Never Alone.....................................................Wenda Anderson
Spring Awakes...................................................Rebecca Russell
A Jeweled Day...............................................Susan K. deVegter
a sea chanty for m...........................................William P Haynes
Today.............................................................Sheri L. McGathy
Time Space Endurance.............................................Pia Shannon
Breathing Sun.................................................Phyllis Jean Green
The Spell of Trust............................................Felix LeRoy Perry
The Light of the Soul...........................................John P Johnston
The Garden Weeds and Me...................................Ann Marquette
Blossom.................................................................Gianetta Ellis
Birds Singing In The Night..............................Stephen W. Pollard
Song................................................................Laurie M Conrad
Robin's Return.................................................................Mr. Ed
Wake up and enjoy the sunshine..................................lili dauphin
Garden........................................................George E Thompson
Who's Crying For Spring?...................................Georg E Mateos
I See Your Dream...........................................Felix LeRoy Perry
Thunder..............................................................Leann Marshall
NEVER ALONE
By Wenda Anderson

The wind has come and wiped it away
The people come and go… passing me by
As if I don't have a care in the world
All they see is the smile on my face
Not the tears I carry deep within my soul
Only you seep into my heart
Filling the empty part of my spirit
Because you have given me
The power in your words to know
I am better than what I can see
So I smile and keep my head up
My heart in your hands
Knowing you will carry me
Through my darkest hour
When I can't see
I hold a candle in my hand
Waiting for you to show me the light
That always guides me back to you
Today
by Sheri L. McGathy

Don’t think about tomorrow
today has just begun
yield toward the future
and greet the rising sun

Today is for the living
the past has come and gone
rejoice with all your merriment
the day to you belongs

Reach out toward the sun
feel its warm rays shine
lose yourself to foolishness
leave the past behind

Cry out to the others
who have locked their lives away
sing out to the living
come and feel today

Enjoy the times today will bring
remember them somehow
for soon it will become your past
as your tomorrows become todays
a sea chanty for m
by William P Haynes

And the sailing ship drifts over the darkest green waters
As pods follow carefully so close to her hull
The songs of the Humpback play on the horizon
While Neptune rules all from his throne

They say that the sea knows all but's unwilling
To share what she knows with both sailors and men
So I'll raise up a glass to her sirens and secrets
For the time that she's taken won't come again

Let's lift up our drinks and toast the fair maiden
Let's raise all our voices and shout out her name
Let's sail to the edge of her darkest deep waters
For the time that she's taken won't come again
Time space endurance
by Pia Shannon

Forgiveness is like a
Silent, falling feather
Weightless -
Time moves on
Waits for no thing...
Unity is like the
Crashing wave,
Inclusive
In its return -
Space draws all…
Gentleness kneads the
Aching heart,
Divine
Truth meets wisdom -
Endurance the master…                   
Breathing Sun
by Phyllis Jean Green

I love the way a rose dies.
The way it holds its glow
by folding it just so,
then laying it in the shade
so rose-like at its center.
Heart painters try in vain
to replicate.  I love to bouquet
red blooms that have slowed
to turn a  pink more delicate  
than baby.  Sigh with yellow
as it antiques itself ivory
or cream with the merest hint
of butter or melon. Meantime,
white suits up for winter
with tea-dyed collar and cuffs.
Color begins to talk in whispers,
then lets silence slip on stage.
Petals allow drought sick air
to sip, then gulp, dew they used
to hoard.  Need to move?  
Tiptoe, please.  Such trouble,
some say.  We fail to see
the beauty.  Good in not being
able to handle rough.  Strain
of pumping bellows to fan life
slips minds.    Words, water,
food, air.   Degree of shade.
Like walking on eggs.
Close your eyes and smell.
Nothing like a living, breathing
rose.  Nothing like the memory
glowing above glass silhouetted
by sun or candle, then pressed
into an album to be handed
down.  A petal just drifted down.
I pick it up and slip it in
among the others at the foot
like a feather, like a kiss.
The Spell of Trust
By Felix LeRoy Perry

She dwelt along the mossy shore
Of the lover’s singing brook
In the land of softly shaded sun
‘Twas there for her I’d always look

She was a wee fairy princess
Whose wings no one else could truly see
But I’d sing for her my love songs
So she’d appear each day to me

We’d kiss and love most tenderly
True love knows no other way
I’d whisper in her ear each night
Please why won’t you let me stay?

Before the moon was showing midnight
She’d stand and wistfully smile at me
If thy love me you must trust me now
I’m bound by a spell you cannot see

Aye, should have took her at her word
Alas…one night nay more could I resist
I backtracked through the darkened forest
To see why at night I was not missed

A cackle filled the midnight sky
Lightning angry slashed the land
The wicked witch of the lowlands
Held my dying fairy love in her hand

Heard voice was dry as parchment
The Hag’s cruel eyes cut like a knife
If only you’d have trusted her
She could have one day been your wife

You see I cast a special spell on her
That if she could find a love so true
That would trust her with the night
In one year I would release her to you

Now eleven months and three long days
I’ve waited for you to fail the test
You gave away what you most loved
Now your heart will never know rest

Your distrust has cost her dearly
For this pretty one will no more be
To visit you beside the singing brook
Her love you’ll no more see

I knew the witch spoke naught but truth
I’d brought this on I couldn’t deny
My teardrops flooded the brook into a river
I knew without my love I’d surely die

So I drew my dagger from my side
Plunged it deep inside my ravaged heart
Knowing I was the only reason why
We’d be forever kept apart…


The Light of the Soul
by John P Johnston

This poem is dedicated to humanity and therefore it
is dedicated to you.

The light of wisdom falls into the crown
The golden glow of God's glory all around

The brain awakens, but the light does not fade
Piercing instead the veil that separates

The light of love arrives victorious
Radiant through the night

Downward pointing, darkness fails
Glowing embers fill the void

Timely toil in the mist
Golden hands weaving in the night

Ruby Master barefoot on the bridge
Silently awaiting the golden dawn
The Garden Weeds and Me
by Ann Marquette

It is amazing what even a little time spent
weeding, even a tiny garden can do for us.


Pulling the weeds
From my little garden
This morning,
I realized…

It is time
To pull the weeds
From my soul
From my life…

And maybe it is time
To plow my little garden
And start anew
Fresh and glorious…

It is time in my life
To free my mind
To plow
The thoughts of old…

Time to begin
A new path
To allow God
To show me the way
His way for me…

Oh the joy
Of a beautiful new garden
A clean heart
The soul, a ready vase
For God to fill
With His gifts, His blossoms.


Blossom
by Gianetta Ellis

For spring, for me, for you . . .

My life is a story unfolding,
I want to live it eloquently;

my spirit is a prayer unfolding,
I want to rise unto it faithfully;

my heart is a promise unfolding,
I want to fulfill it earnestly;

my experience is a dream unfolding,
I want to manifest it graciously;

my world is a blossom to a season.
Song
by Laurie M Conrad

Words to a song for soprano and baritone voices,
by author and musician Laurie Conrad.

What does God see
when He looks down upon this earth?

Does He see our hearts as
small lights when we pray,
when we meditate -

Or when we Love each other
or the animals or people
we see on the street,
or have never met -

When is the flame greater
I wonder -

Perhaps when we can Love
through the hurt and loss
and grief
from the lack of Love on earth
and the various shocks
that meet us each day -

Perhaps that is when
the Heart shines most brightly -
small Lights
standing bravely on earth,
slim beacons
for the angels to find us -
a fragile harvest
for the Divine
for the Celestial Realms
as They glance
in our direction.
Robin's Return
by Mr. Ed

“When I look at ugliness,
I see beauty;
When I am far from home,
I see old friends;
And when there is noise,
I hear a robin’s song instead.”
--A Navajo Saying

This winter had been long and sad
For some Sign of Spring, I yearned
Just yesterday, I heard him calling me
One of my resident robins had returned

“Cheerio! Cheer Up! Cheerio!”
He had awakened me at dawn
And, I very eagerly got dressed
Soon, I rushed on out to my lawn

There he was, on an old tree limb
He was back, peering right at me
And once again, he burst into song
From his feathered heart, so joyously

“Cheerio! Cheer Up! Cheerio!”
How I love a robin’s spring song
I knew his mate would arrive soon
And, I didn’t have to wait very long

Very soon, I happily began watching both of these robins
As they now started flitting all around, building their nest
Spring had, indeed, now officially returned to the
northland
Robin’s Return, this year, had suddenly made me feel
blessed

This winter had been long and sad,
For some Sign of Spring, I yearned;
Just yesterday, I heard him calling me,
One of my resident robins had returned.
BIRDS SINGING IN THE NIGHT
by Stephen W. Pollard

This poem is about our family moving from one
side of Broomall, Pa to another part of town in
1979, where there were more trees, and the birds
just sang their hearts out during the night.

Had moved across town

To a big stone home

With trees galore

In fair weather

would open the windows

To let in the breezy air

In the middle of the night

Sleeping was a delight

With birds singing their songs

Sounding so very pleasant

All through the overnight
Wake up and enjoy the sunshine
by lili dauphin

Excerpt from "I Will Touch the sun"

Go ahead and smile
Get rid of the frown
Let a happy face shine for a while

Wake up and enjoy the sunshine
Today is a beautiful day
Allow your heart to shine

Allow your spirit to glow
Let it cheerfully expand
Give it enough room to flow

Be happy in the meanwhile
Feel love in your heart
Don’t stop the smile
garden
by George E Thompson

Storms can do lots of damage to beauty.

lush bamboo garden
downpour of rain kills all plans
no more basket lunch
Who's Crying for Spring?
by Georg E Mateos

They cry, they beg, they come out from within the wrinkles
folds of their lives after reaching winter in their lives.
The summer warm of love was gone when fall's first chilly
breath put gray hair on the side of the head, and we sat on a
park bench trying to remember when we looked down a
wishing well to see the other end of the world down there, but...
The world had no time for us, too busy to hear or going too
fast to talk, yet...even if they didn't wanted to hear

We talk about the rosebuds of May...
and all the flowers that dwelt there
in Grandma's garden, with little pathways
crisscrossing the front yard with
a crazy labyrinth around the water well.

We talk about the first of the warming rains...
and the snow still hanging from the trees
being pull lose by the fingers of the spring,
water melting the ice wrinkles of Old-man-Winter
falling down from the hands above, belonging to a King.

We talk about the return of all the birds...
and all the twigs that they will be collecting
for a nest building after returning to its trees,
the trip seemed not to be that long, after hearing,
from new hatched eggs, small feathers that give a chirp.

We talk about all the returning butterflies...
dancing in a flower's theatre a delicate ballet,
like sorcerer's apprentices mixing here and there,
their own colors with the garden's, and then,
like magic, without a sound they will disappear.

We talk about all the missing times...
letting "the" one love to slip away
when summer was giving sunburning welts,
after running in Grandma's spring garden
with a crazy labyrint around the water well.

We talk about all the the forgotten memories...
when summer's warm started leaning on spring
at the beginning of the month of May,
with summer flower's buds with tainting colors,
in a garden of many smiles on a string.

We talk about all the children's illusions...
when after all the goodbyes were done we tossed
a penny when pasing by the wishing-well,
stopping to look down and see
if the other end of the world was still there.
I See Your Dream
By Felix Perry

Of sunsets and sunrise
True love, no lies
Seabirds and beach sand
Kisses by band stand
Cool mornings
Hot summer days
Laughter in the rain
Hands held through pain

I see you dream
Long country drive
Good to be alive
Happy ever after two
So much we want to do
Christmas trees, mistletoe
Love wrapped in a bow
Dream made for two
Dream for me and you…

Thunder
By Leann Marshall

"Give your heart to me
And I will give you my own..."
You said once
Then time forgot
Paths widened
Took me far away
So struck
So bold
Who knew then
The Earth is round?
One day
When
Youth becomes old
Homebound
Thunder tears from me
What I have held onto for so very long
Had thought myself strong
And yet
Opened hands are only there to give
Relive
So I must have wanted to,
Secretly
Eyes wrenched open
Clearly
Translucence becomes pain
Unwanted jewel
Sketched in silver rain
Collected in opalescent pools
From which to drink
Wash away regrets
And watch the lips of my own
Reflection telling
The incredible story of
You
Welcome to Sketch Notes, the seasonal and creative
page of my personal Website:

http://www.leannmarshall.com

I enjoy reading and writing (check out my two fiction
novels, The Starfish People and The Rendering.)

I created Sketch Notes as a fun way to express
myself poetically, but I love to feature other writer's
work with a link back to their own Websites. Links to
Sketch Notes archives are at right.


My philosophy as quoted by Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe:
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song,
read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were
possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”

Don't forget to bookmark Sketch Notes, tell your
friends,  and visit often!

If you have written something you would like to see in
a future edition of Sketch Notes, email me.

Email
Happy Spring!

Sketch
Notes
is my
Website's
seasonal
page
where I
can just
get
creative
and have
fun.
In This
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Note: The original writings and cartoons are copyrighted,  belong to those who
created them, and should not be used in any way without their permission.