Most every work day for more than 11 years, I wrote a love note, poem or other inspirational thought, on a napkin – and tucked it in my husband, Marshal’s, lunch – a ritual of the heart. At the beginning of 2009, Marshal started typing them up. It became OUR ritual of the heart to share the Daily Napkin as a blog. Then, in October 2015, Marshal retired, so the whole dynamic changed. I took several months to re-evaluate and decide what I was going to do. The poetry of the napkin is now joined with my art and/or photography images. May you enjoy them. May they feed your spirit.
Berry Berry Good
Life has beenberry, berry good to meJuicy, lusciousso deliciousEven in winterwhen berries are onlythinking of becomingMy mouth watersas I discover anticipationonce more each year• • •What a gift is life!What a treat are berries!Once again, I am renderedsense-more with...
Bunch of Hooey
A bunch of hooey!(but not on my shooey)Just throwing it aroundas he relished the soundof his own voiceAll for the fun of itlike the Stooges woo-wooed itor Laurel and Hardy danced itwhen the camera was aroundA lark in the parkor a laugh in the dark...It all keeps us...
Squirrel Encounter
Big, fluffy squirrellooked in at meholding me still with her eyesPaws gripping and ungrippingtail struggling not to flitterSunlight specklingan abstract background=======Moments stretched to more and longerMy fingers wanting to taptoes aching to danceWishing I...
Wild Places
In the wild placeswhere civilizationand wilderness coincideco-reside and co-existBears take a strollin the parking lotsdeer eat the pansiesand coyotes track kitty cats=========There in that placewild artists chalked beautyAnd a happy porcupineobserved with flying...
Fierce Joy
The intensity of inspirationrides on the bobbing heelsof fierce joyTumbles off lips with abandonbursts into existencebefore any loquacious editorial---------Though any attempt failed at capping the stream of itStill, hearts all aroundcould not help rejoicingIn...
Prayer
Each day a prayerA walking prayer for allrising up through the bonescirculating in the bloodinfilling my beingCreator, open our eyesthat we may see the truthOpen our earsthat we may hear the truthMake our hearts strongthat we may walk in a good wayon the rough and...
Emotional Tsunami
A wave of emotionan ocean tsunamistorms uprisingor deeper movementSurprising the sunwith jewel-like reflectionsAppearing playfulor angry or brutalhiding fear in the reactions of othersWhen done, washed throughall is changed and clear…
Bless the Frog
Dreams awakenedby a frog on the foreheadhave a whole different flavorThan musings fraughtwith idle moment’s fanciesor even whirring wheelsof worry’s wiles=========Bless the frogDon’t throw him across the room
Shadows
The shadows play bigwith the light from the sideShade stretching and slitheringacross the landscape• • •She pumped her feetand leaned deep in the pushgoing higher and higher-but never any lower-As her shadow slidlike a water slickacross the dappled ground
Another Beginning
Rookie ‘til the endFor it’s an eternalever now beginningAnd the “end” is actually(let’s not mistake it for otherwise),another beginning• • •A wise one said sagelyto stay in beginner’s mindHow could one not?Since each and every single momentis, in itself, a new...
Circle Blessing
Twicethe delicate white spiderdeliberately walkedthe circumferenceof our circle, then disappearedWho was that blessing us?What part of me-you-us-all?Self-affirmation of the One
Same Sun
Over the hillon the other sidethe day shines with the lightfrom the same sunas this sideAnd, when you’re there,on that other side,this side is the other sidewhere daylighthappensunder the same sunAnd so it goesthe dance another dance in the sun…