September 7, 2015 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

Struggle

the caterpillar

inched its way up the path

over the stones and cracks

a tuft of grass

appeared in its tracks

what was driving it on?

where did it have to go?

where did the urgency stem from?

LIFE beckoned it forward…

Monarch caterpillar. Photo Credit: C.
Jane H. Johann, August, 2015; Palmyra, WI.

August 24, 2015 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

cicadas’ cacophony

all is stillness

“Moonscape”
Photo Credit:
Coyright: B. Bennett;
August, 2014

the darkness only penetrated by the cacophony of the cicadas

who have continued their symphony throughout the night

singing on a rather high note, their song seems to intensify

as the night is slowly leaving, waiting for dawn to arrive

the flowers are whispering their goodbyes

yet the cicada gives us promise of new life

amid the farewells about us

Sites to reference about the CICADA:

http://www.insectsingers.com/100th_meridian_cicadas/songs/05.US.MS.RPR.T07.Neotibicen_auletes_filtered.mp3

http://www.cicadamania.com/audio/

August 19, 2015 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

sundrops of yesterday

Photo Credit: Jane H. Johann, Jasper, Alberta, Canada, 2013.

sundrops of yesterday

hasta garden variety

flooding my mind

as I tiptoe through midnight crashes

of sourdough bread

Downtown Abbey personified

bookend trips to the city

marked by a movie

museum wonderland

exotic meal out

delivered from the regular

comforted by the fact

that YOU were alive

that YOU were here

present to me…

at least so i thought–

now questioning my sanity

were you here or were you not?

do you know what it is like to be alone?

It is being surrounded by 48 empty hours in one day

…no, not a mistake, time is compounded

dragging me deep into a bottomless chasm

Copyright © Notice

The short stories, the musings, the photography or images(except where otherwise noted), the paintings and the poetry are my original work. These texts are protected under International Copyright ©laws. Whenever any image or writing is created or written by another individual, proper credit is given to that individual if known. Every effort is made to give credit where credit is due. All rights are reserved by the owner (author).Reblogs on WordPress are permitted as long as proper credit and links are provided to this site. None of my writings, paintings or postings should be downloaded, reproduced, copied, projected or used in any manner without written permission of the owner (author).Thank you for respecting the intellectual property rights. I appreciate your integrity and hope you will respect mine. Thank you!

Jane H. Johann October, 2011 ©2011-2020 Jane H. Johann. All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer Notice: This blog contains works of fiction/nonfiction. Names, characters, businesses,places, events and incident are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental, unless otherwise noted.

April 14, 2015 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

my younger brother…Bill

Laughing daffodils blow in the wind

Peaceful birds chirping the delights of Spring

And with them thoughts of you they bring

Sharing measles in the darkened bedroom at four and five

Climbing the fifty foot cedar trees

Seeing who could out do the other

Reaching the top …winging our way into the breeze

Feeling the freedom of our youth

Reenacting the adults and you played the priest

Giving out Stark candy wafers for communion

The Ghost Town in the neighbor’s woods was filled

With a bank, and saloon, and all the wild imaginings of our youth

Until the owner chased us out

And we laughed and laughed and returned as soon as he was out of sight!

Playing tag in the clover fields and again chased out

Onward we moved and out of the town

You into the service and me into college

Yet touched bases now and then

And I pleading with you to vacation with me

And you agreed and off we drove

Through the Pennsylvania Turnpike, where I thought my life would end

Bolstered by stone walls on either side, with the semi on our tail

The downward descent though the Appalachian mountain range

To the warm shores of the Atlantic shouldering Myrtle Beach

Eventually we returned to tiny St. Michaels

And again we parted company

You on to marriage, and me on to the convent

After my absence for five years, you opened your apartment to me

And again we struck up the conversation where we left off several years previous

Brother and sister always we will be

Your kind and generous heart will carry me

Now you have left this Earth, giving what you could of yourself

Now you have left this Earth, but not my heart

February 2, 2015 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

Kindness

“Brother Wind’s Artistic Breath.” Photo Credit: Jane H. Johann, Feb.2, 2015. Palmyra, WI USA

“One kind word can warm three winter months.”

Japanese Proverb

the cold, wintry night had just taken leave

the day’s tapestry was beginning its weave

when your warming words

came into my being…

“I love you”

September 29, 2014 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

Sister Wind Brushed through the Leaves

c. “Children Leaving” Photo Credit: Jane H. Johann, September 30, 2014, Palmyra, WI, USA.

Sister Wind brushed through the golden leaves

spilling them on the Autumn grass…

Her hurried song could be heard in the silence of the day

as though it was her duty to glean the branches of its beauty.

Birch tree hung on to its children

not wanting to let them go…

But, alas, the forward passage of the promise

could not hold sway and off they traveled

shedding their birthright, transforming themselves

into their new way of being…

With each birth, comes the letting-go…

the song of yesterday builds the beauty of tomorrow…

September 24, 2014 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

Nature has that way to make us find ourselves in the quiet…

Nature has that way

to make us find ourselves in the quiet…

Forgetting ourselves

and being in its presence…

Brother Wind

breezes through our thoughts…

Father Night

blanketing us with serenity…

Sister Stars

illuminating our hope…

Sister Moon

softening the dark…

“Moonscape”
Photo Credit:
Coyright: B. Bennett;
August, 2014

September 14, 2014 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

the quiet of the night

has come upon me

as I sit here in the silence

and listen to the absence

my heart tiptoes

across the syllables of mist

deep within the recesses of my heart

wondering where you are

when will I find you

what is this longing

I feel within

what is it that keeps me searching

why have you eluded me

I find YOU

Banff, Alberta, Canada, April, 2014…”The Night” Photo Credit: Jane H. Johann C. 2014

in the children’s smiles

I find YOU in my friends

I find YOU in the SUN

I find YOU in the MOON

I find YOU in the Stars

yet…I am restless still…

and

still…

I seek you…

September 13, 2014 by johannisthinking@wordpresss.com

Starting Over…

7:13 AM

This is MY mantra! Thank you, Rebecca Budd from http://chasingart.com/author/clanmother/ for posting this inspiring quote on your Google wall today! It gave me a boost!

I have started over so many times…and NOW–It is EVERYDAY! In the past, when I was younger, I set different personal goals for myself somewhere in my brain and met many of them—but then, the dream would end, and the castle came down—so, I would select a new way of being…now I have been using the word, “retired”–and have come to hate it–because it sounds like a final burrito wrap before I am placed in the microwave!

Now I am NO LONGER retired—I am an artist and a writer!

I have declared it and I am starting over! And I an NO LONGER RETIRED! Do NOT even say the word to me! I refuse to be defined by it! It stirs up such wrath in me, it is unbelievable. For me, the word is a death sentence! A finality, a giving-up to life and awareness and NEW ideas and ways of being!

I hope I grow until my last breath!

And I know I will get a barrage of people who say I am over-reacting or overly sensitive. Yes, I am! That is who I am. And I will NOT be limited by such a word. And I am NEVER going to retire!

If others want to retire and use that WORD, that is their business.

I am going to LIVE to the fullest each moment! I will discover new secrets of the universe! I will read and grow each day from this moment on!

It has been raining all week in Wisconsin and winter temperatures can be a challenge, but the cold weather also brings with it the idea of a warm fireplace, snuggling with a good read, a settling down and taking an easy breath in of the activities of the summer, the charm of the falling leaves, the clearing out of the foggy mind with the brisk Autumn air, the chance for renewal and awe at what life is going to bring–and, last but not least, the biting into one of those crisp McIntosh apples!

Onward and forward into the ripples of LIFE! I am renewed! YAY!