another spring
by God’s grace
songs from my youth
on the radio
and the garden grows
Daily Prompt: Vanish
Vanish – This is a post of gratitude. Years ago, my career was followed by illness, and then several years of helping with my mother’s care. I believe that my experience with new health needs helped me better understand my mother’s older years. I could not keep pace with people my age, and this time with my mother was good for both of us. I cooked good meals, and we sat and watched the news and movies.
I subscribed to journals, but was not always able to read them, or write new poems. I lost touch with some good friends. Then some of us got back in touch. The years when I seemed to be away blessed me greatly as well. I also changed my life to adapt to new family and health needs. My life grew in different ways than I had planned, and more and more, I see God’s plan.
We all have special gifts to share. The expression may change, and we may discover new ways of being creative. More and more, I trust that when I read and rest, something new will grow at the right time.
*
new growth
on evergreens
dinner with old friends
SMILE, 2010
This large print journal was edited and published by Joyce M. Johnson for years.
*
January thaw . . .
letting go
of old heartaches
Published in A Splash of Water: Haiku Society of America 2015 Members’ Anthology, edited by Catherine J.S. Lee.
*
Ellen Grace Olinger
daily practice
daily practice
and rest as well
sun on Lake Michigan waves
as far as I can see
and as they reach
the sandy shore
The photos of flowers from stores are from March 2016.
Ellen Grace Olinger
Snapshots
The Discover Challenge this week is Snapshots.
Snow melting
in March . . .
my mother’s new smile
*
Gentle spring winds
in evergreen trees
the friendship we grew
*
taking turns
letting each other go
only to learn again
how love grows
Mother
*
Mother’s Day 2004
in loving memory of Enola M. Borgh
You gave your life
to Language and us
reading your work
fills the long hours
I freely gave to your care
How you worked to live
and were unafraid to die
remembering how
you basked in the books
I read aloud
the photo of us by
the graves at the
family reunion
“Woman, why
weepest thou?” *
* From John 20: 15 (KJV)
Publication credits:
“Snow melting” Time Of Singing (Spring 2003)
“Gentle spring winds” Time Of Singing (Spring 2012)
“taking turns” Bell’s Letters Poet 2006
“Mother’s Day 2004” LYNX 2004
The Delicate Border Image is courtesy of Reusable Art – Breathing New Life Into Old Art.
Ellen Grace Olinger
forget-me-nots
bloom everywhere
love endures
heart peace
heart peace
and mind at rest
clear night sky
today
During a difficult time with my health, I read, “And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places . . .” Isaiah 45: 3 (KJV).
From past years:
all these years
the gift of seeing
how evergreen
branches
frame the stars
one month ends
another begins
evergreen branches
frame the night sky
Ellen Grace Olinger
late winter
late winter
today’s sky the color
of forget-me-nots
Ellen Grace Olinger
reading spring poems
I’m reading from back issues of WestWard Quarterly, an international print journal, edited by Shirley Anne Leonard, from Hamilton, Illinois USA.
WWQ also has a Facebook page.
This poem of mine was published in their Winter 2016 issue:
reading
in a sunny corner
of the house
I could be
any age
Ellen Grace Olinger
