When Words are Truly Free

"One Day I'll Fly Away"  Photography by Hayley Richards

Image Source

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 66
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Some birds are poets and sing all summer. ~Henry David 

Once my words were caged

Strangled by silence

Like a shy child

They lingered close

In quiet spaces

Whispering in my ear

where no one else would hear

But with time they grew

And so did I

Old cages get rusty

but old birds still fly

now the silence is stifled by words

they reach far places

like migrating birds.

©Carrie Van Horn 2019

Listen Hard

Linking with Toni's wonderful Wednesday Muse for Night Sounds
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The day has eyes; the night has ears. ~David Fergusson

In the suburbs one only hears sirens

 and creeks in the halls

no owls no frogs

nor cricket calls

You have to venture

To your own back yard

To hear nature’s voice

In the suburbs you must listen hard.

©Carrie Van Horn 2019

Note:  When I was a child I used to stay with my babysitter a lot and she lived on a farm right off the I-35 freeway.  Of course, they kept their windows open to have a breeze and throughout the night you could hear the semi-trucks barreling down the highway.   We were in the middle of a beautiful farm with all the animals you would imagine a farm would have, and that is the sound that I heard most at night.  It was soothing in a way.  A periodical hum that put me to sleep many a night and yet would wake me up as well.  

Photo: Courtesy Google Images

What the Heart Can Hold

Today Toni over at Imaginary Gardens is asking us to write a poem from a quote.
Come join us!

My closet is becoming smaller

Condensing like a garbage compactor

With so many more things stuffed in every year

But my heart finds more and more places to fill

 no matter how large the size or high the price

It grows like a child in winter

And no matter the cost
it always longs for more.

©Carrie Van Horn 2019

Our Hearts Always Hold Them Close,

the butterfly jar by lostinthisphotograph 

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 63


Grief — the great redefiner of life. ~Terri Guillemets

Loss is a burden that we carry with us quietly

And sometimes others eyes do not see

Though it echoes loudly in the holders’ heart

With all the beauty that we touch and come to know

We hold on to love the hardest

Wanting its beauty to linger like a butterfly on display

“Stay with me a little longer my love”

Is what my heart always whispers

But this life has its own plans

Heaven has another time line

That our eyes cannot hold

When we must let go

Sometimes our heart still feels their touch

And still hears their voice in song

seeing their beauty in what remains

and their smile in others that share their last name

loss is a burden that we carry with us quietly

sometimes others eyes do not see

though it echoes loudly in the holders’ heart

those that we have had the blessing to love in this life

come to know a deeper freedom

and our spirits must let them go

but our heart always holds them close

no matter what skies they truly fly.

For Lauren and Seth

Grandchildren both in Heaven’s sweet embrace and always in our hearts.

This week it will be one year since my beautiful Granddaughter Lauren went to Heaven joining my wonderful Grandson Seth who went to Heaven before her in 2000.  Losing someone so young is a grief that is hard to capture in words.  It leaves a gaping hole in our heart and that cannot be filled by anything else in this world.  We hold on tightly to what we hold dear, and letting go is not an option for the heart.  All I can say is this; it will be a beautiful reunion when flying into Heaven’s gates, a beautiful reunion indeed!

A Lullaby I Shall Sing to You and Me

Linking with the Sunday Muse hosted by my awesome friend Shay this week for Muse # 62
Come join us!

Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music. ~Ronald Reagan

I dare you to go truly live outside your own front door

Step beyond the side walk’s edge

Venture past the corner store

Drive on down to the county line

Speed past the city

And then take some time

To live to dream to sing to be

Under the blue sky wild and free

I dare you to listen to each song

And then dance and loudly sing along

Don’t just sit and watch the band

 get a tambourine

 move and clap your hands

While you live and dream and sing and be

Under blue skies wild and free

I dare you

to truly live

I dare you

And I dare me!

©Carrie Van Horn 2019