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]
Category Archives: Nature Me
Tucked in Moss
I’m tucked in moss Peeking up from the needles and the frost Peering across your tremendous tongue Lapping toward my trueness As in nature I am in bed With all that is and once was Cover me with gentle breeze caress As I close my lids, dust dissolves My final home lovingly evolves By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021 Feb. 5, 2021 [Photographs by Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021]
Recognition
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
Rainbows in Misty Times
Rainbows In Misty Times
I drive in misty times
Returning home anew
A rainbow parades my presence
Stretching from north to south
Of our lakeside view
Sun from behind perfectly sets the stage
A reassuring gesture
Wilderness’ way of welcome
To this stranger
From a place of fresh experience
Unknowns abounding
Is this really my reality?
And yet the ribbon rest assures
These are the colors you’ve chosen
This You may truly be different
Even though the unruly untimely side plot chapter
Seems not your probable parent
This is still your place of power
This vulnerable spot, ever-changing
As you watch the weather projecting
The lack of control and protection
In life, yet it is a type of comfort
You within the stillness nature brings
So enjoy, playful otter
The Thunderbird directs from above
And the rainbow spans the distance
Between this self and the former,
Heaven and the horizon
Shining light, perhaps ultimate truth, on clearer water
By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2020
Oct. 23, 2020
Poetry In Time 