Humming Bird

Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

The buzz of blowers

impacts my morning,

my mind. And then

the humming birds

come. Rise to my

window and into my

awareness. Their

humming so quiet

it reaches beyond

the roar into some

eternal moment.
 
© 2019 Joanne Young Elliott

Our Heart Our Mother (For Our Lady or Notre Dame)

Photo by bogitw on pixabay

Our Lady of Paris, icon and soul of a city

we believe we’ll always have.

Flames flicker across screens, across borders

across religions and as always

you are full of grace as nearly a thousand years

of prayers are released.

Smoke rises and lingers over this moment

like incense awaiting more requests.

You were here before cathedrals rose in the

river of our imagination.

You were here before rose windows and spires

that reached into sky.

And still, you are here. You are here, always

our heart, our mother.

© April 15, 2019 Joanne Young Elliott

The Offering

Photo by Free-Photos on pixabay

I gaze into the distance,

beyond palm fronds waving in the warm breeze

beyond the valley floor covered in smog

beyond even the mountains

rising in the distance,

snowcapped and cold

beyond the day and night of it

beyond earth and sky

beyond the moon, the sun, the stars

beyond swirling galaxies and the mystery

of imploding and exploding stars,

dust most brilliant.

Beyond all this,

I realize the offering is

me

you

us

this

and with every breath I serve.

© 2019 Joanne Young Elliott