Kiddo!

Without naivete there is no beauty

Diderot

We can learn so much from the artwork of kids

They take colors in hand and consider the empty page their own

They fill it with abandon and with freedom and without thought for technique

or critics

They simply put life as they see it on paper

 Today, your life is before you

Color it real!

Color it yours!

and that's poetiquejustis

The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven 

is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child.  

 Matthew 18:4

The Path of the Garden

In search of my mother's garden, I found my own

Alice Walker

A search for a garden of my own

A garden of thoughts

A garden of hopes

A garden of dreams

A garden of happily ever afters

And a garden of  things that never were

A garden  of my own

Planted with seeds from those who went before

To leave to those who will follow

 That is how a garden grows from generation to generation

and that is poetiquejustis

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58:11

There is something in the air

There is a blessing in the air

William Wordsworth

You do not always see it

Or hear it

Or feel it

And you may not always acknowledge it

as you let it drift by

But it is there

 in the very air

The blessing of life

and that's poetiquejustis

                                  I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.
                                                                 John 10:10

I'm Still Here

I am for the art of things lost

Claes Oldenberg

Recently, when we bought a house

We were able to rescue family mementos from a storage unit

And bring them home.

So many things that would mean absolutely nothing to anyone else

And yet are the bits and pieces that tie our life together

One such as this is a battered and love-worn teddy

 I got for my 6th Christmas

The bear is a testimony to survival-mine and the bear's

Across the miles and across the years

we both may look a little travel weary 

But, to quote the great songwriter Stepen Sondheim:

"Good times and bum times

I've seen 'em all 

and my dear

I'm still here!"

and that's poetiquejustis
 Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.
Deuteronomy 32:7

Let the 7th note go flat

Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed 

Mahatma Gandhi

When you play the blues, sometimes the C chord becomes a bit more interesting

if you let the 7th note go flat

You have built a good case for that chord all the way up the scale

A good strong C   a resounding E and a smack 'em down G

And no matter how you turn it around-

It is  still the same chord

It is sounding strong, and it is sounding very clear

But what makes the listener remember is if you throw in a B flat  at the end

It is like taking a bow and stepping away

When we try to make our point with people, 

 we need to learn how to let that last note go flat

Leave a little room for the imagination

and a lot of room 

for harmony

That is my note about having the last word

and that's poetiquejustis

                          Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
                                                                       Proverbs 16:24

Getting Ready to Boogie!

You can learn steps but you cannot learn to boogie

Rosie Perez 

I get what she means- you either have it or you don't

But what matters is finding out if you have it!

I have been involved in two reunions lately

One with my piano that had been living with a fiend 

And another is Boogie Woogie- the music that filed our home when I was a kid

So now, my fingers have found the keys, and boogie woogie has found my soul

and I am learning to put those together 

Today, find what it is 

that you should be putting together

then BOOGIE!

and that's poetiquejustis

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 

1Peter 4:10

This Very Moment!

Each moment is a place you've never been

Mark Strand

How glib we are in stringing the moments of our lives together

Like so many beads

                                                         these crystalline moments

These many faceted drops of time that collect like dew

To then become part of something else

Something bigger

Becoming our life

Each moment is a gift

Wear it well

and that's poetiquejustis

                                                     You saw me before I was born. 
                                            Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
                                  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
                                                             Psalm 139:16

The art of Phillip Leslie Hale, American Impressionist

The task at hand

He did each thing as if he did nothing else

spoken of Charles Dickens

When did we become so enamored with mulitasking?

when did it become a virtue

not to be able to focus on one thing at a time?

We talk about the importance of living in the moment

 but then we stuff the moment until it is about to burst

 one moment at a time
one thought at a time
one blessing at a time

that is the rhythm   that is the music
and that is poetiquejustis

And the world is passing away along with its desires,
but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:17

Has Your Dream Lost Its Steam?

You've got to outlast yourself

Clint Eastwood

Have you ever felt like just pulling off on to the shoulder of life

Tipping your hat over your eyes and just going to sleep?

Has leaning against a tree and contemplating the clouds forever

 seemed like a good idea?

In other words- do you feel as though your dream has lost its steam?

Not the case at all!

You just needed a rest!

You are just getting going!

You are powering up!

Getting in gear!

Ready to finish the race!

That's how you do it!

and that's poetiquejustis

And let us not grow weary of doing good,

 for in due season we will reap, 

if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9