Lenten Joy in New Life

Winter still refuses to let go.
Memory and last year’s photo
keep hope alive.
Gritty city sidewalks will again be covered
in blossoms falling from the trees
beyond the church yard fence.
Old St. Michael’s Union City dome,
once a guidepost for Newark-bound pilots,
remains a skyline sign of hope.
God lives, and invites us to do the same.
Lent is a joyful season of new possibility.

A Rose in Winter is Still a Rose

Enough snow photos!
We yearn for the warmth and color of Spring.
There is something about a rose,
even just a photo of a rose,
that evokes warmth, a memory of a pleasant aroma.
Maybe if we look at it a few minutes,
it may fool us into thinking Spring has come.
Even if it doesn’t completely succeed,
we will be better for having done so.

Hold Onto Your Hat

A snowman with a top hat,
a fire hydrant with a snowy dome,
a morning walker bundled up against the chilly breeze -

Early February days beckon us outside to enjoy the calm
after a winter storm.

The stillness only slightly disturbed by the crunch, crunch
of newly fallen snow under foot -
The sun grows stronger now on the horizon.
Spring cannot be far off.