Watching Wild Birds

This is a photo I took outside here weeks ago absent the wild birds and later development of the Spring bulbs.

Watching Wild Birds

Plump pillows behind my back,

a cozy comforter, a hot coffee

warming one hand, I quietly peer

through my window this morning

seeing Spring gently kiss the land.

On the other side of the grey gravel

recycled black pails hold treasures-

Spring bulbs about to flower

amidst fresh blue-green leaves

long and slender, sturdy and stout.

They sit at the base of a rock face-

beige and grey, rust and brown,

cracked and creased and carved,

weathered and mossed in veins,

part of a hill taken away.

Atop the incline by the flowers

of this potted garden of my new home,

I’ve thrown seed offerings to birds

amidst moss and grass and weed

just below the rusty roll of wire-

once a fence, now a perch for birds

watching the farm cats come and go.

In changing seasons and weather,

wild birds flock to my feed.

They’re not even birds of a feather,

this flock of visitors I now see

once more as often before,

males and females, young and old,

all together- sparrow, junco, towhee.

They all travel in flight together,

not minding different colour or size,

finding some reason to be together.

What that may be, I don’t know

but I delight when they’re in sight,

watching them close to the window

as I sit in my cozy nest bed

making sure they’re all well fed.

Watching them chat and dine,

I must say ‘The pleasure is mine’.

My reward is simply that pleasure-

birds and flowers, a visual treasure.

Coffee gone, it’s time to get up now,

change and move on with my day…

March 23, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC

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Grandma’s Tales

Witty Lady- my photo

Beauty In Abundance- photo by me

Sparkling Mind- photo by me

a poem about my Grandma Dorothy H. Thicke nee Dacre

February 25, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC

Grandpa

Poppies, my photograph

Grandpa

My Grandpa fought for Freedoms

in the First and Second World Wars

(freedom from cruel dictatorships

spreading tyranny’s global reach…

like freedoms ‘just to live’, be who we are,

freedom of movement, of livelihood,

privacy, personal beliefs, free speech…

those rights and freedoms denied so many

or willingly given up to feel ‘safe and secure’.)

Wounded, then diagnosed with cancer,

the Doctors gave him a different fight,

‘not long to live’, they told him.

So, he fought again to stay alive

a little longer for people he loved

and for a garden full of flowers

that was his passion and his pride.

He wrote poetry in long, harsh Winters

in his chair by the frosted window.

Growing up with Grandpa and Grandma,

I’d often hear him in his ‘drill voice’ say,

“Dorothy, how do you spell…?” or

“What word rhymes with…?”

Grandma was his ‘go to’ in those days.

Poetry, for him, always needed to rhyme.

Perhaps his poems and flowers ‘saved’ him,

sharing his life that much longer

by staying with us and his flowers

well past his Doctors’ prognosis ‘deadline’,

fighting on for a good twenty years more.

Grandpa had left behind the horrors of War

and found Life well worth living

by creating beauty with love of sharing-

that opposite of the legacies of War.

That was my Grandpa, my hero, my mentor

who still inspires me to this day.

Weeping Flowers, my photograph

(Grandpa signed all his poems Charles H. (Chuck) Thicke)

February 25, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC

Shy Amaryllis

This Amaryllis prefers soft candlelight to harsh glare. (She whispered her preference to me. She also prefers a bit of distance from harmful fire and heat and bows humbly even with a little support.) I posted this morning’s photo on my other site- another side that I hope will bloom to its potential at FlowerpoetShelley.

February 18, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC

Amaryllis

Amaryllis flowering on my table asked me to take this portrait. It is but one of her blooming sides- like people showing different aspects of their creativity and personality. I took this photo with my cellphone this morning giving it candlelight and a touch more ‘drama’ using a bit of blackpoint in the editing functions. I particularly like how the candlelight highlights the little bits of natural ‘fairydust’ that is part of her beauty. I’ll post another photo of her on my new WordPress site FlowerpoetShelley as well. Twice the fun!!

February 18, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC

Flowers

Flowers

Soft and Subtle

I created this simple arrangement for soft and subtle images recently. Lighting has always fascinated me. Though not a professional photographer, I think I had some measure of success in creating a visual interpretation of ‘soft and subtle’.

I Do Recall

Flowers For Children:

I Do Recall

I do recall

as if still there…

a cool air night

and bright moonlight…

a street lamp shines

its light on trees

that seem asleep

but I’m awake

and warm and safe

held in Mother’s arms…

I know no words

but feel her love

and tender care…

I do recall

as if still there…

I’m sitting up

on garden ground

with chubby child feet

that feel cool grass

and gentle breeze

and warm sunlight…

all around

is golden light

that fills me up…

I’m seeing flowers

all around…

I’m growing too

like flowers do

but more aware…

I feel the awe

of morning light

all around

as little birds call

to each other

there…

I do recall

as if still there…

on starlit nights

our Father calls

us all outside

to sit in chairs

or rest upon

the garden grass…

I look in wonder

at the heavens…

the bright starlights

across the sky

seem to call me

to far places

strange and known…

I look up and feel

an inner call

deep down inside

I can’t explain…

I know no words

like language strange…

I lift my arms

to touch the sky

with my own hands…

I am home

all around

and everywhere…

I still recall

my Father quiet

in the starlight

and his love

as he calls us

to the garden

and happy wonders

there…

February 17, 2022

Shelley Wilson

Mists

Here’s a photo I took on my walk yesterday. California Poppies and Love In A Mist.

The second photo is a mysterious pink mist of tiny flowers. I don’t know their human names.

I delight in not knowing everything. Don’t you.

Lewisia

Divinely Dressed

These Peony Beauties are divinely dressed in voluptuous crimson petals designed to enchant and lure suitors but alas they are just sitting pretty on our table.

Compassion

A pop of bright orange colour… I have always associated the colour Orange with Compassion, that wonderful, universal feeling and expression of Love in Action that acts as a bridge to Understanding. Our universal, all-embracing Compassion is truly needed in these stormy times. Even those who cannot feel Forgiveness or Tolerance may find their way through Compassion.

May 19, 2021

Shelley Wilson

Grafted Tree

Fresh Flowers For The Table

Affection