Tiny hands, Tiny Hearts

Tiny hands, tiny eyes, tiny hearts

June 24, 2019

Drying tears with the dripping trees outside

I think of small hands holding each other

While voices cry out for love and family.

Tiny eyes look out at chain links,

Cold floors their only beds

And hearts that ache for holding,

For the warm arms of their families.

Do they know they are loved at all?

Do they know that they matter?

Do they feel like they are nothing,

To be thrown around like toys

In a big political game that is

So much larger than them.

They know nothing of borders.

One bit of earth is like another

But there is that invisible line

That when they cross it

The arms they are held in,

The hands they hold,

Are taken from them

And then what awaits them

 

Uncaring hands and cold chain link cages.

Not enough food to eat,

Not enough water to drink,

Not enough clothes to wear

And a mylar blanket is the only bit

Of warmth they feel.

Tiny hands.

Tiny eyes.

Tiny hearts.

They close up like small flowers,

Like a bird with head tucked under its wings.

The fear so big it overwhelms them.

The tears drying on their shirts

As new tears take their place.

Do they know anyone cares at all?

Heather Rose

Spring greening

Spring has come and summer soon after
like a frame of flowers glowing
in late afternoon sunlight.
A billow of wind
takes spring from us
for a bit
but I remain hopeful
that soon the wind will
grow warmer.

I see small green buds
on every tree
and feel renewed.

The days are longer.
I forget what time it is.
I set my geodes upfon my porch rail
to gleam sparkles in the sunshine.

My home is open again,
the cats roaming freely
porch to home.
They give me a small
turn of head to thank me
the way that cats can.

My bike calls to me,
saying NO MORE BUSES
for now I am saved from
noise and humanity
and I ride my through busy streets
making my own schedule.

I wish the warmth could last forever.
I wish the trees could have green
every day.
But eventually the winter will come.

But for now, here on my porch,
all is easy and small gifts come to me
like a bit of sunshine
or the lightness of shorts and t-shirt
after the long burdens of coat, hat and gloves.

Bring forth the warmth you smiling sun
and keep us remembering
that life is change
day by day
and the change can bring forth
both cold nights and warm days.

Blessings come in small things.

North Dakota-1977

North dakota 1977

I walk outside in the winter,

The air to me smells like raw bacon.

I do not know why.

The snow blows in a blindness of white

 the sky a plate glass grey.

I walk to school,

8 years old and I walk alone.

I will find my way there.

My shoes shelve snowy flakes

upon my small, cold toes

and though my coat is warm

I still breathe the icy morning

my breath puffing out in long,

white strands.

This early, there is only the

low, milky sun and I

following our selected courses

And I ask the birds as I pass by

“Where do you go when the wind blows?”.

I worry for the birds.

I sift through snowy flakes on the ground,

feeling the small, cold pearls

of frozen bits here and there.

Making a wish that my eyes could see

something beyond the white

and feel warm again.

But here the air is cut through

like knives in my lungs.

I walk still down the street

And think of nothing.

Mind blank like the white morning.



Heather Lake

She is the messiness of love

A tiny light that has no meaning beyond being.
She has no further ambition. 
Only to live,
teasing from life the essence of every moment,
to draw out every gasp of breath,
every furrowed brow thought,
every fevered dream.
She is Life.
She is that love that breathes in 3am talks and midnight teary hugs.
She is not the noonday, coffee shop love but the messiness of emotion
thrown wildly through darkened rooms of the soul.
She is the love of family strife and redemption.
The fearful goodbyes.,
 the edge in the eyes when one recalls the memory of a tight hug in
the midst of grief.
She is the beat of our lives.
We are never truly alone
That most complicated of things :the human heart.

Heather Lake

A little update on myself for 2019

      It's been awhile since I have been able to do my blog. My computer broke 6 months ago and since I couldn't figure out how to fix it i just disassembled it and put it in the closet and bought a typewriter which is awesome for writing but you can't post it online.
   Christmas was fun. I worked some and got to visit some friends and enjoyed just relaxing at home. I worked Christmas Eve at the community kitchen packing to go meals for people.
  These days I have been very busy working at Feta, the middle eastern restaurant I am employed at. I enjoy working with people and the crew there are all very nice and hard working. I am starting to work as a prep cook too which is fun to learn how to make all the dishes.
   The other day I made the pickled cauliflower which is a kind of lengthy process. I cut up all the cauliflower, then made and cooked the brine and put it all together. It's pretty tasty. I am learning the proper way to cut herbs and how to make various things. I have never been a very complicated cook so it's fun to learn new ways to prepare things.
  I have been reading a  lot as well. I have usually 4 books going at the same time. Right now I am reading a Jack Keroak novel and a J.D. Salinger book of short stories. I am also working on Life of Pi and a book called Nevermore which is a collection of short stories inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe.
  Joint problems, muscle pain and back issues have stymied much of my physical activities these days so I am looking into starting Yoga and Tai Chi for Arthritis at the YMCA. Getting up and down is difficult now with my knees as they are but I figure I can do some things with Yoga and perhaps my mobility will get better with it.
  I miss running but it is just not possible for me anymore. I do still enjoy walking in the woods and being outdoors however and in the warmer weather I spend a lot of time on my commuter bike and walking. I walk in the winter as well unless it's really deathly cold.
   I am working on getting out more. Actually I have been working on that for quite some time now. I had a nice experience working with some students from IU this fall. The speech and hearing center at IU put it together for me.
   Three students (a medical student, a social work student and a speech therapy student plus a  mentor) came to my house once a month for three months. We worked on ways to improve my memory, get more social and work on some medical issues. They were very nice and helpful.  I had done the same thing last year.
  So looking into the new year I am working on some personal things. One is to continue to find social experiences, especially as it gets warmer and it's easier to get out. Another is to continue to work on several health issues. And, last but not least, celebrate my 50th birthday in September. Thinking of something special to do for that.

I hope all of you have a happy, healthy 2019!