Because that is how you roll…
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Category Archives: poetry
Copper Puddles
Copper puddles and puppy cuddles
autumn brings apple cider smells
and musky leaves and wool sweaters
out of cedar chests and crisp mornings
and rainy days and cold starry nights
that hint of winter to come…
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
Autumn Sings
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Putting the Puzzle Back Together
“We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless action and reaction upon each other of these different atoms. Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it…”
– Mary Baker Eddy
Putting the Puzzle Back Together Again
We both hold pieces to the puzzle –
you have yours and I have mine
and to solve the puzzle we need
to come together and share
what we know and work as a team.
You say “stick to the facts” and tell
me you don’t need to listen
to what I have to share, but you do
and I do, too, if we want to put
all the pieces of the puzzle in place.
I agree you are an expert on your
bits of the puzzle, but you are not
an expert on mine. You have not
lived my life, seen what I’ve seen,
or learned what I’ve learned.
So let’s share, shall we? You share
your perspective, and I’ll share mine,
and we’ll learn from each other.
I’m thinking we can only gain from
this. Gain in understanding of
America. Gain in understanding of life.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
What’s the alternative?
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The Perfect Time
It’s a great time to be alive, ain’t it?
(This is the time you’ve been given to live –
if you don’t live now, when are you planning to do it?)
There’s never been a better time to love.
(This is the time you’ve been given to love –
if you don’t love now, when WILL you love?)
There’s never been a more perfect time to be you.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Embraced in Light
Moon from Bow, WA (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Whatever the Outcome in November
“It matters not what be thy lot, so Love doth guide…”
– Mary Baker Eddy
Whatever the outcome
in November –
whoever gets elected –
let’s make a pact, shall we,
to continue in kindness
and in our own integrity
and in wisdom?
Let’s not let the outcome
of an election make us less
than what we are.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Join in the Dance
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I was feeling a little melancholy yesterday. (There are always reasons to feel gloomy, if you look for ’em.) And then this thought came to me and helped me…
Dazzling Days of Derring-Do
Remembering days when we played hide and seek
in the parking lot at Mount Rainier on summer nights –
my fellow park employees and I slithering
under trucks and dodging behind cars
and laughing so hard our bellies hurt.
Or we might go looking for bears on the trails
in the evenings – hoping we wouldn’t actually
find any, but enjoying the idea of it –
my friend, Dan, pulling me in front of him
for protection, as we encountered imaginary beasts.
We were young. The world was full of adventure
and laughter, and derring-do.
Forty years have brought changes –
marriage, motherhood, responsibilities.
My body seems more matronly than springy
these days. I will be entering my sixth decade
in a few weeks. I felt some trepidation about this.
Would I never have another adventure?
Were the dazzling days of derring-do done?
I went for a walk around the lake yesterday.
I wanted more. Walked from old town to the park.
I wanted more. Walked from the park to downtown,
and back again. Then Scott came home with an idea:
Let’s walk the trail to the beach when the sun sets.
I was all stretched out from nine miles of walking,
and ready for more. A walk in the evening cool.
Darkening trail, lovely roots and rocks to climb
smell of fir and cedar and briny bay
and the sunset – brilliant reds and golds
and blue filling my eyes in the west as the full
moon rises in the east, shimmering silver on the sea.
Crashing waves, sparkling light from sun and moon,
peace and perspective from the stars dotting the above.
And then flashlights come out of our pockets
and we find our way back through the woods,
rocks and roots, joking about what we’d do
if big eyes glowed towards us at eye level down the trail –
and we’re laughing and brave and young again.
The adventures haven’t ended.
There are still dazzling days of derring-do.
– Karen Molenaaar Terrell
Sunset from Clayton Beach
Moonlight over Clayton Beach
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 