The spider and the fly

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Trap me! (Yes, I dare you)

in deceptive woven lace

woo me with your splendor

inside that dark, confining space

 

Sing me love songs, buy me jewels

rubies, silver, gold

make your smile seem bona fide

and all the truth? Withhold!

 

But know this

 

Just when you thought you’ve caught me

in luring ropes, beware!

look closer in your tangled web

You’ll find it’s empty there

 

(Photo and poetry by C. Dennis-Willingham)

 

Judgment in disguise

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If told to cast the first stone

do you think that I’d obey?

Scar another person

just to please the crowd’s melee?

Those who dress in daily judgement

long in tongue, they criticize

and peel the souls of others,

while cloaked in self-disguise.

Is there any single person

who has never romped astray?

No, I did not think so.

And no, I won’t obey.

A creek with flowing water,

harmonic overtones

a place to sit beneath the Oaks

A better use of stones.

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Author’s note: Photos taken and words written while waiting for my husband to come out of eye surgery. (He’s fine) 🙂

 

daily prompt: Disobey

top photo credit

 

Will You Come?

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Will you row beside me on a lake layered blue

To glide past the mountains in calm solitude

Through ripples of water, a quiet bouquet

just thoughts, without words in a silent buffet

Where worry dissolves with each stroke of the oar

And Nature brings peace, and the soul it restores

— by C. Dennis-Willingham

 

photo credit

 

No, not all the land in Texas is flat!

Nor do we all ride horses and I haven’t worn my cowboy boots in years. We have real hills and even a river that flows in west Austin and  downtown– The Colorado River.

Just sharing a few photos of Texas’ state capitol with y’all. Enjoy!

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Breaking routines to find treasures

Funny how, when a friend comes to town, you experience your home city with new eyes. So, when my friend Derick came to town, I broke my routine and did something I hadn’t done in a long while.

We hiked up Mount Bonnell, and viewed the Austin skyline.

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Then off to Contemporary Austin Laguna Gloria to visit nature and sculptures. And nature through sculptures.

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We followed the paths …

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And discovered a beautiful mermaid …

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solitude,

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and a renewed passion for nature.

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Oh, and as a friend once told me in Florence, NEVER FORGET TO LOOK UP!

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What do YOU see? Can you see FARTHER?

 

Is this a puppy asleep on a couch, OR

 

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a moon through an open curtain?

 

Version 3

The same photo from a different perspective

The same “fact” with opposing views

 

No wonder it’s difficult to convince others of what WE believe is true.

 

It is rumored that Native Americans never “saw” the “invisible” European ships coming toward them, that it was too “alien” to their experiences for their minds to grasp the concept.

However:

There’s a more obvious answer for the odd times when Cook’s ship didn’t spur a reaction from people on the shore. While we can’t disprove the extraordinary notion that the ships were indeed invisible, I think the more prosaic solution is that the natives were living on the edge of survival, and that anything that wasn’t a threat or didn’t contribute to their well-being could be safely ignored.

And as panhandlers and wheelchair users can tell you, just because you’re ignored doesn’t mean you’re invisible.

(reference)

Our eyes only see what our mind wants to tell us. Let’s tell our mind to see things anew.

Nothing is invisible.

Can you feel Her? Can you see Her in the stone?

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photo taken in Cabo San Lucus, Mexico by C. Dennis-Willingham

She is an old, old woman

full of grace but wisdom more

She rocks within her sinewed arms

a child from long before.

She serves as a reminder

(Through an image made of stone)

those passed are not forgotten, thus

we never are alone.

Hurricane Harvey, it’s time to go

Houston, Texas (photos) is about three hours south of here (Austin). Those poor souls are struggling for survival.

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Meanwhile in Austin: Last week this creek near my house was cracked and bone dry. This is what it looked like today:

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Let’s hope Hurricane Harvey dries up for the folks in Houston and surrounding areas.