November

Posted on 
Earthenware hues subdue the garden
The sun bends low to peer across
Fields lie fallow
Colour-drenched skies
Clouds given to brooding
Bring blissfully bleak ambiance to darkening days

Like a lamp chain pulled at dusk
The gentle light of November
Is a warmth of luminescence
That steeps the days to umber
Nudging an allure to wait and watch

The lilac bush, leafless and leaden
A gathering place for
Woodpeckers and sparrows
Its twisted, rutted boughs
Salver to seed-cracking beaks

Hydrangea mops once white and blushed
Now buffed and stained.
Like a music conductor's baton
Stalks keep time to the notes of the wind
A prelude of cold to come

What is this comely barrenness?
Tops lopped off, discarded
Leafy cover blown askew
Unveiling an intricate lacework
Silhouetted against a watercolour sky

Hidden not amongst growth
A spent soul refuges in quiet
November light shines in slant
Clement luster to limbs exposed
Fecundity fostered in stillness

(Thanks to one of my sisters for the imagery of bare branches looking like lacework)

Published by Judy

On the edge of Waterloo county, resting sedately on knoll, is an old stone house looking out towards the Grand River. This stone house and farm has been in my husband's family for years. We have been graced to call this place home for the last thirty years. Our best crop has been our four children. After years of immersing myself in raising and educating our family, the proverbial nest has slowing been emptying, opening up space for me to fill with other pursuits. Both writing and photography have been knit into my everyday living since I was very young. Sharing them is both a bit of a dream and a nightmare. But living small and in fear shrivels up a life. My thoughts are musings on God, aging, family, and simply living. My shelves are lined with books, my baskets are brimming with skeins of yarn, my closet shelves are stacked with apparel, my cellar shelves are chock full of home canning - all testaments to my inclinations. Our journeys are not solitary affairs. As I share bits of my journey with you, I hope you will be enticed to look more closely, listen more attentively, and live with abandon. May God's peace rest on your journey. Judy Mae Naomi

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2 thoughts on “November”

  1. Phyllis Montgomery says:

    Master word craftsmanship and imagery! It takes a special artistic eye and open heart to find such detailed beauty in November. 💕

    Reply
    1. Judy says:

      Thanks Phyllis. So much of that beauty is in how the light lays in during November.
      Love to you and yours.

      Reply

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