The duff was soft and easy
as I walked on the trail
The trees leaned in closer,
listening to my prayers
The wildflowers
continued to meditate
I searched for myself
along the way
sometimes with head
up to the sky
and the breeze
passing by –
walking at a pace
pleasant for turtles
I took my time
digging deeply inside
to discover my truth
but instead, I found you
Lauren Scott © 2018
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
ALL GROWN UP, STANDING TALL AND PROUD
NEW BRILLIANT BUD
THIS ONE WAS TRAMPLED BY COPPER AS HE
DASHED QUICKLY TO CATCH A SQUIRREL,
WHICH GOT AWAY (HE WAS SO SORRY
ABOUT THE SQUIRREL AND SUNFLOWER). 🙂
THE STEM LIES HORIZONTALLY, THEN STANDS UPWARD
AS YOU SEE IN THIS PHOTO. IT’S PRETTY AMAZING
THAT THIS LITTLE ONE PERSEVERED AND FOUGHT
TO LIVE. IT MAY NOT BE THE TALLEST, BUT IT’S THE
BRAVEST AND STRONGEST. WE CALL IT, ‘THE FIGHTER.’
MY HUSBAND CAPTURED THIS BUZZING BEAUTY!
(Please excuse any weeds you may see; we’re a little behind in that
glorious task. And I hope you’re not tired of these beauties just yet. This
year has been our first for sunflower experimentation. So, to see
them grow and bloom has been a real treat for all of us.)
Sunflower Satisfaction
Feeling a sense of wonder
watching them sprout
with newfound delight –
entering into the land
of blossoms and buzzing,
a gift unto all who enjoy
beneath the golden light
Lauren Scott © 2018 💕🌻
An icy gust shadowed him
around the corner,
grazing his earlobe and
sending chills across the way
His Italian wool threads
exuded perfection
even as he slid into leather –
heading for someplace
he labeled important
Then birdsong matched
her mood and with her cell
on speaker,
passersby became privileged
Her long coat sufficed,
but she tightened the belt
as the gust wrapped itself
around her like a python
When the hailed driver
met the curb,
she smugly skimmed
over the back seat
until satisfaction found her –
phone chat uninterrupted
And across the way,
huddled against the
weathered building,
he imagined a handful
of warmth
yielded from his worn beanie
and threadbare coat –
layers of blankets
occupied his dreams
No complaints fell
from his chattering teeth
Instead, his eyes were alert
and his mind formulated wishes
Lauren Scott © 2018
(re-write)
Getting to know the Author:
Balroop Singh, a former teacher and an educationalist always had a passion for writing. She is a poet, a creative non-fiction writer, a relaxed blogger and a doting grandma. She writes about people, emotions and relationships. Her poetry highlights the fact that happiness is not a destination but a chasm to bury agony, anguish, grief, distress and move on! No sea of solitude is so deep that it can drown us. Sometimes aspirations are trampled upon, the boulders of exploitation and discrimination may block your path, but those who tread on undeterred are always successful.
When turbulences hit, when shadows of life darken, when they come like unseen robbers, with muffled exterior, when they threaten to shatter your dreams, it is better to break free rather than get sucked by the vortex of emotions.
A self-published author, she is the poet of Sublime Shadows of Life and Emerging From Shadows, both widely acclaimed poetry books. She has also written When Success Eludes, Emotional Truths Of Relationships Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited and Allow Yourself to be a Better Person.
Balroop Singh has always lived through her heart. She is a great nature lover; she loves to watch birds flying home. The sunsets allure her with their varied hues that they lend to the sky. She can spend endless hours listening to the rustling leaves and the sound of waterfalls. The moonlight streaming through her garden, the flowers, the meadows, the butterflies cast a spell on her. She lives in San Ramon, California.
Book Blurb:
Certain desires and thoughts remain within our heart, we can’t express them, we wait for the right time, which never comes till they make inroads out of our most guarded fortresses to spill on to the pages of our choice. This collection is an echo of that love, which remained obscure, those yearnings that were suppressed, the regrets that we refuse to acknowledge. Many poems seem personal because they are written in first person but they have been inspired from the people around me – friends and acquaintances who shared their stories with me.
Some secrets have to remain buried because they are ours
We do share them but only with the stars
The tears that guarded them were as precious as flowers
Soothing like balm on festering scars.
While there are no boxes for grief and joy, some persons in our life are more closely associated with these emotions. Their separation shatters us, their memories echo, we grieve but life does not stagnate for anyone…it is more like a river that flows despite the boulders. When imagination and inspiration try to offer solace, poetry that you are about to read springs forth.
How to order your copy:
Title: Timeless echoes
Author: Balroop Singh
Genre: Poetry
Available at: Kindle Click on the link
US UK DE FR ES IT NL JP BR CA MX AU IN
The Editor’s Review:
Half of what we say are lies although they might be considered true, but truth with one’s self is an accepted bundle of lies except for those rare moments of self-realization. These lines right at the start of Timeless Echoes, ‘Each moment is precious, we try to cage it within our heart, where it perches in perfect rampart, embalmed by memories,’ reveal how this book is a healer, promising to lay bare the ills of the soul as it soothes, cleanses, and nurtures; instilling in us a will to learn and live without fear, and a will to not hurt others: ‘Why can’t our hearts feel the hurt we hurl at others?’
Balroop’s new book is a steadfast repudiation of those ills that we painfully hide under the covers of our flesh to present the polished exterior as truth. This magnetic collection of poems highlights our precious human lives with all their varied emotions and imposing relations: the lives often blinded by the strictures of the self-made duplicity, an excessively common phenomenon. ‘Listen to your heart, my friend. It knows you well,’ she writes.
I treasure these ‘forgetting fragile facets of love, facade of fading memories, echoes of dwindling love, is all I have now, yet love echoes refuse to subside’ believing that love echoes are soul-launched signals, ready to hug our pretenses to forge a divine assimilation because the struggle has always been with the self that we excommunicate to build up a wall, which obscures the travails plaguing the core. And finding a path to the core is the cure since there’s no villainy in the soul.
As Balroop proclaims ‘love is such a strange emotion, it gives less, it claims more…the facade of love is so delusive,’ I concur how our infirmities require urgent banishment, more pressing now than ever. And once I’ve made peace with the self, ‘the dark corridors are like meadows, they glow with my presence.’ Yes, without an iota of my own falsehoods plaguing me.
~ Mahesh Nair
A peek inside Timeless Echoes:
Moments That Echo
Each moment is precious
We try to cage it within our heart
Where it perches in perfect rampart
Embalmed by memories!
Moments of love croon around us
Offering eternal passion that blinds
Drowning in the deluge of delusion
Validating ephemeral enchantment!
Moments of joy glisten on the sand of time
Fleeting away faster than dappling light
Peeping through the corridors of life
At the mercy of others’ delight!
Woeful moments smile through strife
Each one stretching far and wide
Into every nerve and sinew
Sneering at our impertinent divide!
Each moment an experience in itself
We grow in its glow to wend and win
Divesting the ignorance of our thoughts
Solace echoing within!
AND you may visit Balroop at her Social Links:
Her blog: http://balroop2013.wordpress.com
Connecting links:
https://twitter.com/BalroopShado
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emotional-Shadows/151387075057971
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+BalroopSinghsrao/posts
https://www.pinterest.com/balroops/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7340810.Balroop_Singh
https://www.amazon.com/Balroop-Singh/e/B00N5QLW8U/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
We sit on the shore
feeling inconsequential
in its vast presence,
watching it sparkle
like a rare jewel
that has just been discovered
The dragonflies attend
in their tiny-jet manner
The damselflies gracefully flit about
with their delicate bodies,
and blue, iridescent wings
Then we close our eyes
as tiny threads of peace
weave into our whole beings,
allowing worries to fall
like the cleansing of raindrops
How fortunate are we
to play a part with nature
in this moment of our existence –
for this point of time will soon transform
into a most profound memory
Lauren Scott © 2018
Photo: Loon Lake, El Dorado County, CA
Hi All! We’re back in civilization, and I’m in the process of organizing our photos. I’ll share a few once I’m done. The lake was beautiful beyond imagination, and the relaxation was a wonderful change. As much as technology is appealing, to be unplugged is a treasure!
For today, I thought of sharing some unusual flowers and bushes from our yard. #1 photo is of our first sunflower bloom, a red sunflower. Have you seen one of these before? #2 is our Abutilon bush with its orange/yellow blossoms, which is dearly loved by hummingbirds. We sit at our table on the patio and listen for their arrival, then watch them joyfully drink. #3 is our Butterfly bush showing off its gorgeous purple flowers, which yes, attracts butterflies. I have yet to catch a hummingbird or butterfly in a photo, though. Hopefully, someday soon. And lastly, here are some quotes from John Muir to take you into the weekend:
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
“The world’s big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”
I hope you’ve all been well. Doing some camping clean-up is on the weekend agenda, along with reading some blogs. 🙂
Happy Friday! ❤🌼🌻
First of all, our little finch family has flown for good. It wasn’t long after the babies had hatched that the whole family had soon left. In our minds, it happened so fast, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to say good-bye. Well, it was fun watching the process – first time for everything, and now that Mr. & Mrs. Finch know our house is a safe haven, they just might return if they decide to grow their family. 🙂
Secondly, my husband and I are leaving this weekend for a camping adventure. It’ll be fun to get away, to immerse in some relaxation, hiking, and swimming. We both love time spent in the mountains, among the freshwater lakes and majestic pines. There’s just something special about that mountain air! Needless to say, I won’t be blogging, but I’ll return later next week. And for fun, I’m sharing some photos that may bring a smile…
Copper’s having fun, but who’s winning?
What a beautiful, fluffy, summer sky!
Finally, a sunflower bud, so we’re still eager for the blooms.
On a walk with Copper, look who we saw prancing!
And these flowers popped out, too. Just lovely and friendly,
don’t you think?
I plan to do some blog-reading until we leave; otherwise, I’ll see you when I return to city life and technology. Until then, take care and stay safe. Lauren 🌼❤🌻
Sitting in a chair
where confidence
hides within
the tattered fabric,
she’s mesmerized
by raindrops
sliding down
the fogged
window pane
Then she stares
at the gadget
in her hand,
a lifeline to
the outer world
where she is
irrelevant
Only her thoughts
keep her company,
and they can be
her worst enemy
She gathers just
enough strength
to wonder
if this is the end-all
Lauren Scott © 2018
Baydreamer Writes ~ Lauren Scott, Author & Poet 