Winter White Sheet

December, San Diego, California

The seashore is a cloth
    where nature stitches. . .
 
Needlework directions. Scurrying crabs
Chain-stitch messages on wave washed sand
 
French knot pods on seaweed ribbons
Tangle among feathery willet trails.

Threads, cross-stitched by sandpipers
define the shore, fading into the next wave
 
Web-footed seagulls
Crewel-work leaves 




 
Pelicans skim the waves,
On jet-stream currents

In their wind-wake, cormorants
Search for sandstone cliffs
 
The ocean beckons with
A tantalizing fringe of foam
 
Toe prints mark the footsteps
Of a toddler, running into the waves





Beside them, a father's footprints stop
Where he saved his child from the sea.
 
Storm warning tomorrow.
The white sheet will submit
 
To the tumult, wear a
Landscape of barren rock





Tide pools will expose barnacles
As they reach for life-giving water
 
Soon the calm will come
With a fresh white sheet
 
Waiting for new
Directions.

A Song of Peace

a sestina

  In the eye if the storm, I am at peace
  You open my ears to hear your music
  My senses wake  at the cymbal's clash
  of thunder.  Clouds collide, opposing
  the peace I  feel.  Skies of crimson
  greet the night,  rejoicing
     
  The storm  subsides.  Rejoicing
  I hear your  voice.  I am at peace
  The sun sets, ablaze with crimson
  I welcome the night music
  Crickets sing your praise, opposing
  thunder's  farewell clash
  
  



      
  Remnants of an  angry storm clash
  with voices of the night, rejoicing
  Breezes caress  me, opposing
  the howling winds of day.  I am at peace
  My ears are open to your music
  Moon drawn tides fade to crimson
   
  Dawn awakes,  dressed in crimson
  With day's  awakening, I hear the clash
  of waves,  beating on the shore. Listen to their music!
  They sing God's  awesome power, rejoicing
  Despite the  crashing waves, I am at peace
  Fear subsides,  life's stormy seas opposing
     
  Christ stilled  the waves, opposing
  all human  fears.  His cross, crimson
  with sacrifice brings peace
  He is my rock  amid the clash
  of all life's  storms.  I come, rejoicing
  Earth sings His  praise with joyful music
  
  



      
  Sun moon and stars echo earth's music
  I join their song of faith, opposing
  doubt and fear ­  I come, rejoicing
  Sunrise to sunset, when clouds turn crimson
  I remember Him.  Come cymbals, clash
  Come trumpets, blare! I hear His music
  
  coda    
  Your life, your blood, your cross,  stained crimson
  all sing your victorious song. I hear your music!
  In the eye of the storm, I am at peace.

A Squirrel's Prayer in Four Acts

Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication

Lord of all creation
Praise to you for creating
soft earth and for my superb sense of smell
that leads to tasty tree roots and tulips

Forgive me for feasting on forbidden foods.
My gluttony is not appreciated by the keeper of the garden.
All I did was eat the prize iris and sapling.
Is it my fault the 30 foot deodar fell
When my friends gorged on its delectable roots?
Underground tunnels are my lot
I live in darkness
Longing to tunnel up
Where Eden Awaits!

Thank you for manna from heaven!
Sunflower seeds! 
Bird feeders!  
Blossoms and leaves!
Succulent succulents to quench my thirst!

Lord, 
Please, would you distract the garden keeper?
I know she wants flowers, not me
When I emerge, I'm constantly on the run,
wondering if I am the object of a chase
Usually I am.
Please remind her
the seeds I bury and forget
Often grow into sunflowers
Help her to enjoy the meadow grasses
that sprout in surprising clumps
because I planted them
One more plea -- 
If you could inspire her
to love the holes I leave in her path,
forget about planting everything in pots,
take the chicken wire off the root ball of every new tree,
I would be eternally grateful --

Amen

About the Author . . .
Tommie Lenox, who directed the Writing Academy video, is pictured here teaching the art of film-making at an Academy seminar. She was awarded the 2001 Communicator of the Year Award of Distinction as script/project coordinator for Beyond Send, People Packets and Pandas, a film she did in collaboration with the San Diego County Office of Education. She has also been involved in writing, editing and reviewing technology grants for California schools and in seeking a publisher for her book, Crying in the Wilderness: a Voice for America's Children. Even in draft stage, her manuscript won awards two different years at the Maui Writers' Conference.

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