Secret Yard Gardens

Never before have
the mushrooms come,
having sprung up
beneath the colors
of the setting sun,
like harbingers sending word
for the others to follow suit,
to settle in, to family reproduce.
I feel like the searched-for
hostess, the mortally-cloaked
fairy princess.
Little do the other humans know,
I live to be that escape artist,
to visit like Alice
the enchanted kingdoms
among the petals and leaves
and gypsy fungus.
Even the dog knows
to respect the magic.

Poem and images ©LauraDenise

Chosen by Swans

Humble, majestic beauty
fills me with tranquility,
silence save the ripples
that reach inside of me

and soothe my soul so tenderly
as I contemplate for once nothing,
transported to a place so serene
that exists in a dimension unseen.

Transfixed on the bowed fowl heads dipping,

I bow too and enter with gratitude respectfully
and float weightless in the pond of this reverie,
sanctified in the sacred sanctuary.

I feel the goodness of all eternity
in the magical waters slowly swirling,
and when I am transported back to reality,
the Fountain of Placidity becomes a part of me.

Poem and images ©LauraDenise

Ocean Timeless

Ocean, timeless.

All stages

and walks

of life

equally embraced,

welcoming

the soul

to seek

and find…

No two

secrets

alike,

but the sea

harbors

so many

similar dreams,

secret pleas

whispered,

its waves filled

with such murmurs…

Some search

for shells,

some for treasures,

some look

for those bottles

with rolled up

letter-answers,

some come

to visit

the spirit of another,

some fill a bucket,

others a locket,

sandy pockets,

camera rolls,

but the greatest

sea-gifts,

only in the heart

can one hold:

they are the weights

of the mind and body

released

into the endless blue,

not to simply dump

but with the belief

that the ebb will send for

the solace

saltless solutions

to heal

all wounds,

the magic

of mermaids

to rekindle

dreams from youth…

Ocean, timeless,

welcomes you;

roll up your pants

or submerge yourself

into the

fountain of youth.

fountainofyouthrevised

Photos of my daughter and my aunt. ❤

Wildflower Fairy

I caught her today,

captured her existence,

the legendary Wildflower Fairy

paying my very own yard

a visit!

Her golden-backed silhouette

under sun’s guardianship

came forth;

chattered excitement

among the birds broke up

the morning chorus,

as she bent and whispered

something indiscernible

to the seedlings,

her dew-kissed face

and green-veined gown

revealing her as the Queen,

so I found myself

bowing like the blades and leaves,

for sometimes awe and magic

come disguised as

weeds

to grace us with a moment of

humility.

And during all of this,

I realized,

there was such peace

in me.

Undertoe

The white and gold

in the mushroom undertoe

draws me in to that peculiar

texture of spongy foam.

Something there is about wild

mushrooms growing

seems magical, mystical;

they seem to harbor a knowing

that we all miss

so busily attending to the non-bliss

of the things deemed more glamorous.

For me, though,

I’d rather shrink myself

and stay awhile or so

in the land of fairies and gnomes

and listen all day to the tales of old

before the curse of growing

and learning, being told

to pay no attention to those

mushrooms undertoe.

Magic Pond

Neighborhood pond

or magic pond

or both?

So many times

I lost myself

for a while here.

Ducks and turtles

and still water

compete with

salt-water creatures

and tide

across the street.

I squint my eyes,

play with filters,

tailor this pond

to match my moods;

it knows my past

and keeps my secrets,

while the ocean, I think,

knows my future,

but both are filled

with the possibilities

and wonder.

Today, I make the pond

my own

in a fantasy world

where the water

becomes a fountain of dreams

come true.