a plea for spring

my mind is turned to darker things
when all around old winter sings
he should have long been fast asleep
yet on he rages cold and deep

spring is lost in winters hold
and all around we feel the cold
grey the sky and white the ground
which should have long ago been crowned
in crocuses and daffodils
with sunshine on my window sills

i long to put my hands in earth
to plant the seeds and see their birth
to watch the gardens life break through
to bask in sunshine, stand in dew

to walk along the forest floor
all those places to explore
moss on ground and tree alike
o how i long to take a hike

dark is my mood on days like this
and sad my heart, when spring i miss
black i wear to mourn her loss
all the night i turn and toss

i don't know what could lift my heart
when winter still just will not part
everyday that snow remains
spring has lost and winter gained

a day, then two, now four, then ten
when will i feel the sun again?

on my deck i long to be,
the sunshine falling down on me
a cup of coffee in my hand
with children playing in the sand

spring please come, please here my plea
and set things right as they should be
knock old winter off his seat
and let us feel your wondrous heat

bring new life, bring new hope
help us all to learn to cope
in this our time of desperate need
spring please come ~ and with all speed

facebook for cars? a mothers perspective

recently i was involved in a facebook discussion about the tiny stick man families that people post on their rear windows.
i was surprised at how many people are offended by these
someone even went so far as to say ugh puke...

i was shocked and bewildered

and i started thinking about why it bothered me so much, why i was thinking about these over the top reactions

and i suppose my own over reaction as well

when i realised we often react not to someone else, but to what we have hidden deep in our own hearts

when my son was 17 months old he took his fathers medication, to be honest he would most certainly have died had his 3 year old sister not come running to mommy telling me not just that he took it. but what exact pill he had taken.

we were in the ambulance on the way to the children's hospital, he was bright red, with a fever rising by the moment, limp in my arms except for the seizures...

and i could see perfectly out the back window, i could see the faces of the drivers
i could see there frustration ~ we were in their way
i watched as they tried to veer around us
i watched as they scowled
i saw them swearing...   they were going to be late and that was my fault

and i remember looking down at my tiny littleman and knowing there was a very real chance he would slip away. torn from my life.  right there. in that hot. cramped. ambulance.

surrounded by strangers

who did not care,
whose only thought was that they wished they were in front of us

and i thought to myself
i wish they could see
i wish they could see what this ambulance carried
i wish they could see my baby limp like a rag doll in his mamas arms
i wish they could see the fear in his mamas eyes
i wish they could see the pain, the moments that might be his last

maybe they would soften their hearts if they knew our story
maybe getting to work, or the spa, or home for lunch,
late
is not the worst thing that could happen

and my mind was changed forever in those scary moments

to me a car is not just an obstacle
it carries life...
and a sticker of a stick family reminds me that someones whole world is riding in that car
it doesn't bother me
it doesn't entertain me
it doesn't tell me their political views

but it does tell me their world view
one dad one mom one girl two boys and two dogs
their whole world

and i can understand that world
and i can respect that
and i can appreciate that
i can even be a couple minutes late...   
for that

everyone has a story
we just tell it in diffrent ways