beauty

Boulder River


Boulder River went unwilling

Into this present age of bondage

Where death and decay reign.

What would it have been like

Before knowledge was chosen over love?

 

It is so beautiful now

With the dense foliage on either side,

The waterfalls cascading

Down the sheer cliffs.

 

Would the water have been

The purest of pure

Able to quench the thirst

Of man and beast?

Perhaps the intensity of color

Would have blinded the eyes of mortals.

The wild things

Instead of hiding

Would come out to greet us.

The bird song so sweet

We would have wept and laughed together.

 

I know the sign at the trailhead

Would not be there

Warning the hikers

Of the dangers of the wilderness.

 

© 2012 Julie Clark

Categories: beauty, mountains, Paths, Poetry, Trees | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Through the Cracks

There are just times

When beauty is not in full display

But only to be seen when hunted for

Showing through the cracks

 

Categories: beauty, Faith, Life, Poetry | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Censored

I am just now able to get on my blog.  WordPress is blocked here in this Asian Country.  A friend of mine told me how to get around the block.  At first I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working.  Was there something wrong with my Internet, or a glitch at WordPress?  Then my host told me:

“You can’t get on WordPress.  The government has blocked it.”

I was shocked. “Really? Why?” I asked.

“Because someone from the opposition party is using it.”

 

The government has blocked all of our WordPress blogs because someone from the opposition party uses it.  Crazy.  My little blog searching for beauty and messages in everyday life got swept up in this censorship.  My voice is silenced with countless others.  I know it is just a little thing, and I finally have found the way around it, but I had a little taste of what it is like to be silenced.  It didn’t feel good.  It made me mad.  Then it made me think of how many voices have been silenced. Images of heavy boots crushing wild flowers beneath them come to mind.  As the army passes, most of the flowers slowly spring back to life. Not all, some are too delicate and their stems are broken. The sound of traffic drowns out and silences the bird song. Yet, in the early morning before people start moving we are awakened to the chorus.

 

What is beautiful, what is good, what is lovely and sweet will endure.  It will lift up it’s head again and be seen and heard.  The voices that cannot yet be heard need others to step in for them, until they can find the strength to sing again. There are many who need this kind of advocacy. Who will be their voice?

Categories: beauty, borderlands, Life, Travel | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

In the park

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Tree in the park

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Glory in the park

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Tree in the park

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In the dark

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Tree in the park

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Walking and Waiting

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Evening walks in the park

Categories: beauty, Life, Love, Photography, Travel | Leave a comment

The Olympics

It happened again today

As I turned the corner

That pulling up from the deep

Kind of feeling

As the view opened

And there were the Olympics

In their cold, lofty solitude

 

Calling me to breathe deeper

To listen to the silence

To acknowledge the ancient wisdom

Flowing within and without

The present

Where heaven meets earth

Is all I have

I need to recognize it

And make my home there

 

© 2012 Julie Clark

 

Categories: beauty, borderlands, Life, mountains, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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