I guess what we mourn over in midlife is not the past people and places of our youth, but the loss of our naïve hearts and minds. ~Jenny Miller

We shrug off the weary garment

and fly home to God

Where first, as we fly through

the endless expanse of the stars

and space,

through an endless universe, universes,

past planets, such beautiful shining

brightness against the dark --

On our way we are told perhaps

"Guess what - want to know the secret?"

"Yes" we answer.

- by Jenny Miller

#1 Autumn: 2020 ~ Ornamental Horticulture ~Koelreuteria bipinnata

 

There is a certain kind of tree

called a Chinese Lantern

because it has foliage in the fall

that looks like colorful Chinese

lanterns

and they sway softly

in the breeze.

-by Jenny Miller

Bayberry Candles

The scent of Bayberry candles

will forever bring me back to a time

of deciduous woods,

a colonial white house,

a crisp and colorful fall

and the burnt orange,

warm simplicity 

of the seventies.

-by Jenny Miller

On the Road Home

How can I be

authenticated

as I am

as I am

as you are

as you are

How can I be

authenticated

in all things

to all people

I encounter

on the road home.

-by Jenny Miller

written 7/15/2020

COVE

All that was known is gone.
As you were sleeping,
Life went on.

The pumpkins
the frost
the flowers
all lost.

All is in a daze
As you lose track
of days.

It seems everything
Now measured
All in the past.
How long will this last?

Will there still be seasons?
Will there still be holidays,
birthdays, remembrances,
Celebrations?

It feels all hope is lost
And hands are stuck,
on clocks.

by Jenny Miller
4/29/2020

Perhaps?

Perhaps
at times
my propensity
to seem oblivious
and aloof
is mistaken for
things going un-noticed.

This is not true.

Perhaps
at times
the smile on my face
is mistaken for
a disconnected
sophomoric
response to
a serious or sensitive
matter.

This also is not true.

Sometimes people make a choice
to react in certain ways
so as to attempt to dispel
some tension or pain
for others
as well as themselves.

Perhaps at times I seem to make light
when something is heavy
or
I seem to laugh
when there should be a silent pause.
What else to do? I often do not know.

But in my heart I am there with you,
the exact same as you
matching you
and I know.
I feel what you feel
and I can assure you.
In my heart, in my soul
this is the truth.
you are not alone.
I hold your feelings, I hold your hand,
I am sorry, I empathize, I bleed inside for it all.
I hold your hand, I love you.

Perhaps, you did not know.

~by Jenny Miller

A Part of Everything is Here In Me

Sitting here

Starting out the window

Listening to John Denver’s Season Suite

Watching the delicate new leaves

Dance in the wind against a cloudy sky

I imagine in my mind

They are dancing and swaying to the music

Just for me

Because I don’t know what else to do

Understand that statement

In the right context

I don’t know what else to do

In this moment except to see the beauty

Of nature

Going on

Entertaining, comforting.

by Jenny Miller

The Real #MeToo Movement

The real #MeToo movement
is that we are all humans.

Fragile
with hearts.

I love reading others thoughts
and poetry and finding out
that I am not alone in the
phenomenon of disappointments,
plans that don't work out
and heartache.

Finding out I am not alone
in having good days and bad,
happiness and sorrow.

In needing to house, feed and clothe myself,
all the while navigating other humans
like me.

At the end of the day
we are all a myriad of hashtags.
All the same ones.

by Jenny Miller
2/10/2020

Half Winter

There are half the leaves

still clinging,

to the tree this year

Half cold, half warm days

half overcast, half sunny

Half hopes for Spring

But what will happen

to half the leaves

still hanging on?

Half is better than nothing,

yet still not whole.

Never before have I seen

a half winter

such a long fall

or an early Spring.

by Jenny Miller

1/30/2020

Vulnerability

I realized today
that I know
all about
my own vulnerability
but know little
of yours.

Have not stopped
to consider enough
that you are
vulnerable too
by default
as you are a human
with a heart
wants, needs, dreams.

I knew all of the
emotional anatomy part.
But did not often enough
stop to think about
the vulnerability part
and what that means.

I love you.

by Jenny Miller
1/14/20

Late Winter

It is the season of dreaming.

Cold, wet, rainy.

Darkness, semi-hibernation.

Thoughts turn inward, life slows down.

Everyone is in a state of semi-operation.

Time to nestle in your nests,

And wait out the storms.

Time to move slowly.

Give ourselves a break from pushing forward,

And just be.

To seek contentment---that elusive bliss.

Don’t forget to look around,

To see the beauty in it all.

The misty covered mountains--

Those dark friends who are resting this time of year too.

The trees who are bare and dreaming

Of fragrant new buds of pink, yellow and green.

The sound of the pit-pat of  the rain in the stillness.

Be quiet inside so you can hear the voice--

His voice speaking to you.

It is comforting to know

We are all just human and in this together.

We are all tired, slow, inside and cold,

Trying to get warm after another day and another night,

Untill she, in all her glory rises from the depths

And greets us smiling and smelling of mothers’ perfume,

Warming us with her crown,

Comforting us with her gentle breeze caress.

Taking off our jackets, sweaters and gloves,

And telling us to wake up and go out to play.

by Jenny Miller

January 23, 2008