I’m Already Looking Forward
As the height of golden color
Becomes baked and matted
I can already see in mind’s eye
The blooming locations of next year’s beauties
And smell the sweetness of black cottonwood resin
A mere six months to wait
Things may be so different
I don goose down and Gore-Tex
In preparation of the colder and greener moss walks
Today’s azure brightness however
Forecasts a vital turnover
From nebulous to distinctive images
Only of fertile soil building
The winter wait will create cell space
Time will combine the correct mineral and organisms
I along with garden and forest will renew
As that is what seasons and bodies do
By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2022
Oct. 31. 2021
“Winter to Summer,” By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2022
Elusive Winter Sun
Elusive winter sun
Shine through frozen limbs
And warm my chest
Bring my inflexible bones back to life
Show the way to peace
I once observed
In your summer shining
Warmth through and through
Basking in the new grass
Sleepy relaxed muscles
A dragonfly lighting
On my stillness
By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2022
Dec. 28, 2021
[Photo Gallery By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2022]
I am proud to announce that my multimedia figurative painting “Flowing Through Impermanence” has been selected to appear in the Resilient & Creative Art Exhibit at the Port Angeles Fine Art Center, Aug. 13-Sept. 26, 2021.
14×18″ Acrylic, Pencil and Ink on Canvas, Custom Framed in 2″ White Oak – $600
The Walk
Tall, striking
New pink sneakers
Countenance of a tree
She glances at me
Actually, looks directly
I see her full expression
And feel myself weeks ago
Scared, strong, in fear, clear, near tears
The unknown has hit
The big leveler
The death inviter
The life challenger
Out of her experience
Out of her control
Swing set emotion
Up to down to up
Turning up the compost
Bringing up the rot
Mixing rich earth
With decomposing parts
She walks with dignity
With desperation
Because she knows
That her present and future
Are in constant question
And she's trying to flow
But not give in
Life is too precious
And the trick is
Not wanting it too badly
There's the rotting rub
How to survive
Remain oneself
Be the gracious woman
You've learned to be
Without handing your life, body and soul
Over to those
Who have no idea what makes you full
I smile to her
For I'm in it too
Just a different side of the walk
Looking across I'm now able to see
My own feelings reflected
And put two and two together
For myself, perhaps for her
And I hope my simple smile
Provides a calm kindness
The truest type of assistance
No overstepping, no talking, no giving
Having been there myself
Now walking not just for me
By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
Dec. 5, 2020
I’m so glad I can often understand
The deeper meaning within poetry
That I can peer through dormer windows
Into your personal abstract stories
Like the sideways glance of shy eyes
And all you’re not saying
Revealing to me
Your truth
Tiny secrets you tease me to tug out
From your words but not
Your being
By Laura E. Garrard Copyright 2021
May 3, 2021
All photographs and video by Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021.
In each woman
Is the womb of the world
Ripe for tears
Ready for mud
Renewing us all
Vigor, sanctity, and child
Larger than her own life
Potential beyond measure
Creativity awaits her dawn
To dredge deep
Hear her welling up
By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
Jan. 22, 2021
[Top Photo: "Spring in Olympic"; Middle Image: 16x20" Pen & Ink on Paper, "Woman to Child"; and Below Sideshow Photos; all by Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021]
I will consider myself an artist
When staring into beauty is the art
And my striving is not
Art is the experience
If it wants me to recall and record it
So be it
By Laura E. Garrard
Jan. 22, 2021
[Top Photo: "Sunset from a Tree"; Below: First Row, "Sunset on Crescent Lake, panels 1-3," Second Row, "Hugging Alder, panels 1-3," Third Row, "Alder Sunset," by Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021]
“Alder Waves,” By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
Recognition
So easily we are sucked in
To rhythm, to culture, to doing
Again and again we try to escape
Those dreaded thoughts I should
It peers, leers from around the hall corner
Of our calm, beige alcoves
And lures us in as dreams, discovery
Snaking around our ankles
Until it catches hold
Dragging us unknowingly to the depths
Of holes we never quite escape
Just when our chins reach the rim
And purity begins its rise
We let go of our reclaiming
The depth of who we really are
In exchange for ambition, adoration
Short-lived achievements and the next
The next, what’s next, yes it’s always next
For what are we if not our doings
Are we anything but a wisp, a breeze
An unfilled chalice
I become as smooth as water
As I gaze into the waving reflection
The continuity of rolling liquid
Explains the repetitive nothingness existing
So frighteningly inside us
A vast vase holding who knows what for what reason
Except for those who can break away from the serpent of season
Conquer the self and end the circle of want and challenge
And enter the peace of it’s done, everlasting satisfaction
The soul need not be searched
It’s already fully present
Waiting for the moment of complete solace
Recognizing that being known is not making renowned a name
Or being drawn to destiny
It’s about the unborn waiting for its first breath
And the death of desire to be anything but breath itself
By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
Jan. 22, 2021
[Photo above: "Riding Reflection," By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021]
“Lake Reflections 1,” By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
“Lake Reflections 2,” By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
Poetry In Time 