WHAT ONE SEES

                      [PHOTO Source: GOOGLE online images "rainbows"]

(When I look around, my senses perceive a world of wonder that fills my Heart and lifts my Spirits. dht-OCT 2011)

BEAUTY is everywhere and unique to each eye !
WHAT one sees as ordinary, another sees with wonder!
WHAT one sees as junk, another sees as treasure!
WHAT one does not see, another sees with awe!
WHAT one exclaims over with "Huh" ? --

   another says "Aha"!

I hope your day is filled with --

   WONDER, TREASURE, AWE,

  and "Aha's" !

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

WHILE

[Photo Source: My photo, my camera, a rose in my yard]

(In a surreal maze, while the storm clouds gathered above, my senses were assailed with the sounds and fragrance of a beautiful morning. dht-OCT 2011)

WHILE –

Hope whispers in my Ears –

LOVE murmurs to my Heart –

Faith confounds my Spirit –

Reality confronts my Eyes –

Essence of Life bemuses my Nose –

Salty Tears clog my Throat!

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

Just Memory Scraps

                             [Photo Source: Google online images – see photo for credit]

(I wrote this on 3 Oct 2011,  looking at my Life as a quilt made of scraps of the Fabric of my Life. dht)

                                           ---------------

The Memories of my Heart are like quilting scraps -- stitched together by Time -- the Pieces forming the Patterns of my Life.

This Piece is from the time I lived with my BELOVED Maternal Grandparents -- where their LOVE wove a Pattern that is forever with me.

Another Piece is from the young sailor that I wed -- and began a Journey on rough marriage seas.

Ah! Then there is my child's Pieces -- a mix of patterns melding in betrayal, rejection, lies, abandonment, and disillusion -- beginning from an early age through the senior years.

Now, here is a Piece just completed -- hardened by Life's experiences -- yet still sentimental and capable of Great Compassion and Sensitivity.

Some pieces hold secrets and surprises - all in a delicate design of whimsy.

The Artistic Eye will notice the eclectic theme in the quilt of my Life's memories.

Yet beneath the layers of quilting, a Life filled with dreams, memories, and recollections subsists.

My eyes close tightly as I try to stop the tears.  My throat is tight with despair and regret and sorrow, for the Missing Pieces that will Never be a part of the whole.

The emptiness from their absence leaves an incompleteness, a void, that can Never be bridged by any expanse of Time.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

BY WHAT NAME

  [PHOTO SOURCE: Google online images – fractal]

(I wrote this, 6 Sep 2011, thinking about what I did Yesterday and what I need to address Today. All the while, I know there will be 'left-overs' that will not be done Today, and will have to be done sometime in the Future. I speculated upon what keeps me from completing all the things on my 'DO TODAY LIST'? Is it -- the over whelming tasks, energy levels, health issues, emotional baggage, fear that I won't have anything to do when the 'list' is done? Chuckles! -- There is ALWAYS things to do on the 'DO TODAY LIST' !!! dht-2011)

By what name the Past --

     be Yesterday

By what name the Present --

     be Today (Now)

By what name the Future --

     be Tomorrow.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

LIFE and LOVE

                           [PHOTO SOURCE - GOOGLE online images]

(27 APR 2011  --To me LOVE is unconditional -- accepting everything about another  - both what is in their Heart and what is not;  LOVE is Timeless – crossing boundaries of age and decades; and LOVE is infinite – deeper than any ocean -- its depth reaching to the core of one's Heart.  

I found the short story below on the Internet and it touched my heart and made me tear up.  If it touches your Heart, share it with someone you care about – a nurse, doctor, caregiver, mother, father, sibling, or friend.  dht-2011)

*****************

I Still Know Who She Is

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb.  He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00.

The Nurse took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him.  The Nurse saw him looking at his watch and, since the Nurse was not busy with another patient, decided to evaluate his wound.  On examining it, the Nurse saw it was well healed and talked to one of the other Nurses and got the needed supplies to remove the sutures and redress the wound.

While taking care of the wound, the Nurse asked the elderly gentleman if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, since he was in such a hurry.  The gentleman said, no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.  The Nurse inquired as to her health and the gentleman told him that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's disease.  As they talked, the Nurse asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late.  The gentleman replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him for five years now.

The Nurse was surprised and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?'  The elderly gentlemen smiled as he patted the Nurse's hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.'  The Nurse had to hold back tears, and had goose bumps, and thought, 'That is the kind of love I want in my life'.
[-Author Unknown]

JUST A CANDLE'S AURA

                                  [PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images - flames]

(I wrote this, 15 Jul 2011, thinking about how bright the Future's venue from my youth's portal.  The visions of hope from my girlhood, were tarnished and faded by the reality of Life with all its challenges, disappointments, and distractions.  Now, in the winter years, the bright aura of my youth does not burn as blue a hue. dht-2011)

The brilliant Aura of Youth –

now harnessed by Life's Distractions

and Time's Passage –

fades until No More.

The Ending of the Day --  

has mellowed to a fine Hue –

the sharpness of a stormy Passage.

There's a momentary madness

burning high in Youth's Abode –

Now extinguished in Elder Days

of unrealized Wishes, Hopes, and Dreams.

The moment –

Nothing more remains –

Just A Candle's Aura !

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

WHERE ONLY SHADOWS DANCE

                                                        [PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images]

(I wrote this, 13 Jul 2011, in a gray frame of mind, all too frequently occurring.  The "good times" in my life so far removed and their memory fading, seemed to go by too quickly.  Only now as I re-play those favorites, do I feel I was not prepared to savor the precious few bright and clear moments.  With misty eyes and wet checks, I try to recall happier times, despairing at the barriers that the 'bad times" cloud with melancholy. dht-2011)

The days at times are shrouded

in unremitting shades of gray.

Dark shadows obscure

the corners of my life.

MELANCHOLY is as a shroud

that allows only gray scales of color –

NEVER the rainbow rues

of LOVE, JOY, HOPE, BELONGING...

The edges of memories blur –

their shape and texture mute –

with a blink of the mind's eye –

they recede.

How strange it seems they happened

Just As Quick in their Time.

Now replaying those moments over-and-over,

thoughts drift through Barriers

NOT even Time's Gate Keeper can Deny.

The vast darkness so dense at times,

the light cannot invade the Expanse

WHERE ONLY SHADOWS DANCE!

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]