Moonlight

Moonlight

As a pale phantom with a lamp
Ascends some ruined haunted stair,
So glides the moon along the damp
Mysterious chambers of the air.

Now hidden in cloud, and now revealed,
As if this phantom, full of pain,
Were by the crumbling walls concealed,
And at the windows seen again.

Until at last, serene and proud
In all the splendour of her light,
She walks the terraces of cloud,
Supreme as Empress of the Night.

I look, but recognize no more
Objects familiar to my view;
The very pathway to my door
Is an enchanted avenue.

All things are changed. One mass of shade,
The elm-trees drop their curtains down;
By palace, park, and colonnade
I walk as in a foreign town.

The very ground beneath my feet
Is clothed with a diviner air;
White marble paves the silent street
And glimmers in the empty square.

Illusion! Underneath there lies
The common life of everyday;
Only the spirit glorifies
With its own tints the sober grey.

In vain we look, in vain uplift
Our eyes to heaven, if we are blind;
We see but what we have the gift
Of seeing; what we bring we find.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Clouds

CLOUDS

Horizons void of clouds
How dull would be the scenery
To know them all by name
A visual adventure to attain,
Altostratus, pileus, cirrus, nimbus
Least we forget the all familiar cumulus,

Who has not gazed in amazement at the magnificent array
Billowy clouds on a perfect day?
Standing on the seashore where clouds meet the sea
Inspire the calmest soul to ecstasy,

Imagination soars as clouds pass by
Images, shapes we find appearing in the sky
What sheer enjoyment is achieved by watching nature's wonder,

Restful, meditative, tranquil
Everlastingly inspirational.

Nancy Ellen Crossland

Missing Piece

Missing Piece

For years I have been fixing this mess of a jigsaw life.
Going through, and studying each piece.
Fitting them in, trying to find my base,
My corners.
And when I saw where something didn’t fit,
I found the problems.
And sorted them out
Things in the wrong place.
Some pieces didn’t fit.
And a few pieces were broken,
And needed to be fixed,
But over the years
I have gotten to the point,
Where it resembles the picture it should.
It is near complete, and I know the gaps.
I can see the shapes of the pieces that need to be found.
But I can’t see them.
I seem to be a piece missing.
I can feel that hole.
But can’t see where the missing piece is.

I am missing a piece.
And it is haunting me
Like a shadow,
That is still seen in the night.

Marc Robinson

Liberty

I created this image due to a challenge made by "Alfred Welsh" in his comment made on

White Tree at Twilight.  I hope it pleases him.

LIBERTY ENLIGHTENS THE PEOPLE

She broke her bonds and strode along the beach:
A metal titan with the strength to act
In judgment of the wretches who detract
From lessons they had lost the will to teach.
And on the slate she held was graven each
Colossal name of those whose holy pact
To build a nation still proclaimed the fact
Of storied greatness, late within our reach.
How many laurels grace the marble brow?
A race of giants had traversed the far
Face of the bannered moon. And turning now,
She smites the teeming refuse who would mar
What God has made, before they can endow
Old Glory with the Devil's waning star.

Ellin Anderson

 

WALK ON THE BEACH

WALK ON THE BEACH

With each of my footsteps
Upon the sand
Cool now;
Near days end,

I am refreshed, renewed
Inhaling the salt air
As the light breeze
Rustles through my hair,

Hungry gulls scan the bounty of the sea
I stop and gaze
Gathering the peace and tranquility,

Another sunset seen and I am in awe
As if never allowed
The privilege before,

A silent prayer of thanks
Upon my salty lips
And contemplation of millions of sunsets,

I am mesmerized
Tears forming in my eyes
As I hear the seagulls cry.

Nancy Ellen Crossland