Rain Sounds

The rain sounds

So soothing to my tear-drenched soul

A rhythm

Beats on roof and sod

A song of my sadness,

Of missing you,

“Friend-of-my heart.”

~Kathie Adams Brown (July 7, 2014)

Letting Go

So much of Life is about

Letting  Go.

You cannot hold on,

You cannot keep,

You cannot capture or retain

Another’s soul.

We do not own each other—we must let go!

We set our children free,

We set our friends free,

We set our lovers free, then

We set ourselves free.

We must let go

To Grow.

~Kathie Adams Brown (7-7-14)

Why I Can't be a Minimalist

I want to be a minimalist but…

…I like the feel of my tea cup in my hands
warm, and round and pretty.

Today I like this one but,
tomorrow I may want to use another one,
a different one
for my coffee or my tea or my hot chocolate

a different cup for
a different kind of tea
or a different holiday,
or a different friend,
or a different memory,

because I have so many
(friends and memories that is)
as well as tea cups
(more than 40 I’d say)

So how can I have less than 100 things
as proposed by some people nowadays?

For me that would mean throwing away all tangible connections
to people, places and pleasures

the Simple Pleasure that I get
from drinking tea or coffee
from whichever tea cup I am in the mood for

today.

~Kathie Adams Brown (October 27, 2010)

• NaPoWriMo 2014

Sometimes Solitude is Bliss

Photo courtesy of Chris Rohrer

I like people...sometimes.

I like to have a friendly chat, to walk in quiet companionship through the woods,

To laugh about a funny movie with a friend,

To bemoan the worries of the world over coffee or tea.

I love to share the things I love with my friends, but sometimes, solitude is bliss!

There are no demands when I am alone,

No right answers I have to think of,

No need to be clever or cute or witty.

I can just be me and think my own thoughts

And smile at what makes me happy

Or dance in my heart.

There is no one to criticize or summarize or scrutinize or any other “-ize” me.

I can just be.

~kathie adams brown (October 17, 2013)

A Friend Indeed

Detail of a painting by Heather Heath

A friend in need is a friend indeed

At least that’s what they say,

But a friend to me is like a weed

That blooms most every day

They hang around, they pay me heed,

In what I do or say,

That’s how I like a friend to be

A friend that I let close to me.

I like a friend that will be true

I like a friend who makes me tea

A friend to trust and to pull through,

A friend who listens to my pleas,

And when I’m feeling sad or blue

I like a friend who laughs with me.

That’s how I like a friend to be,

A friend who I let close to me.

True friends know acceptance is the game

Yet they will tell you when you’re wrong

They never will forget your name

And when you sing they sing along

It doesn’t matter if there’s pain

They sing the notes in any song.

That’s how I like a friend to be,

A friend that I let close to me.

But friendship is a street for two,

I’ll not forget this thing,

I will be a good friend too

And we don’t have to sing,

We just have to muddle through,

And let our hearts take wing,

'Cause friendship doesn’t happen every other day

It really is quite precious, that’s all I have to say!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 8, 2013)

NaPoWriMo2013 Day 8

A Valediction for Trudy

Trudy 2008

Even now I see your face

Faded blue eyes shining with Joy

As you show me the oriole on your feeder.

Long ago you nurtured

-this bird love in my heart,

--this God love in my heart,

--this love for all of nature.

I remember the last time I saw you,

Shrunken and gnome-like

With the pink, leathery skin of old age,

Yet eyes that still shone like a child’s.

Oh how I loved you, and love you still.

I think of you now like a constant thing,

Like birds, and God’s Love.

I knew the last time I saw you

It would be our last good-bye,

You were 102 then—time had run out on you.

I hugged you tight while tears

streamed down my face in a flood.

I could tell I was but a faded memory

In your aged mind,

But, you still loved me,

 you still loved God,

and you still loved the birds.

I wanted to hold you so tight

as if my love could keep you

from the inevitable.

How is it that you are gone from this life,

Yet still so alive in my heart?

In the birds I see everyday

—I  see you,

—I see Love.

If parting is such sweet sorrow,

Then remembering is sweeter still,

And saying Good-bye is but a brief moment in time.

~For Trudy Smith (read more here)

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 6, 2013)

NaPoWriMo2013 Day 6 Prompt: Valediction

OSI Prompt 28:Defenses Down

You caught me with my defenses down and blogged into my life,
We laughed, shared poems, became friends,
I thought we connected
Became kindred spirits—
You spurred me on
To poetry
To creativity
To life
I always hoped I meet you
One day but,
You withdrew your presence,
And refused to speak to me
And I wonder what unknown offense I have committed
To be cast out this way.
The sadness I feel lingers
like a stale odor in my brain--
You caught me with my defenses down,
I will not be caught again.
~Kathiesbirds (September 8, 2008)