Sunflowers are happy, vibrant and very tenacious flowers. Her favourite flower is really the daisy but she is not as keen with the French translation,” marguerite”, and so she chose sunflower to be her nom-de-plume, hence, Tournesol. C’est vraiment plus joli comme nom, n’est-ce pas?*
The blossom later in the season but what is so wonderful, is seeing is blooming late summer beginning of autumn and even in mid November, she has seen the same sunflowers on her walk to work, stand strong and proud growing from the concrete just off rue St-Denis in Montreal.
September blossoms
hope of eternal colours
the first snowfall
Years ago when I was a pre-schooler, there was a family gathering at our grandparents home. Aunts, uncles and oodles of cousins were swimming, splashing and having a grand old time. My cousin and I sat in the row boat and I am still not sure who did what but in a few minutes we discovered we were in the middle of the river! I just remember crying like a baby …
swims to the rowboat,
uncle Bernie saves the day
my hero!
The Great Spirit works in mysterious ways, like when I felt a homeless person at the Métro Laurier made me think…maybe, just maybe it was Amma checking to see if I would be more giving. I hightailed back inside the station to give money to that man.
Years ago when I had just moved to a city far from my hometown, I had just left my daughter at the bus terminal and was walking down Yonge Street which is a bit like Ste-Catherine in Montreal. I already missed my family and walking down the street I had not realised that tears were running down my cheeks. A homeless man standing at his “station for the night” in front of a retired theatre shouted out to me, “Hey, Lady, smile, nothing can be that bad.” I turned around and saw this toothless man, smiling and waved acknowledgement to that kind man. That man who had so little, was encouraging ME.
Tonight I heard about a young boy who passed way beyond his years.A volunteer counsellor accompanied him onto his journey…towards the light. I wonder if the Great Spirit planned this journey at a time the full moon shone on his path. An angel was born, I thought to myself. So many stars are not seen by the naked eye and yet I knew…
Thankfully, the Great Spirit places angels on this earth for a reason, those two homeless men and the volunteer counsellor.
angelic and pure life goes on look! a mourning star
angelic and pure
innocence
heaven’s open arms
life goes on
in another world
afterlife
look, a mourning star
please don’t cry
pain-free at last
life is what she writes about,
liaisons and love affairs,
rife of erotic passages,
relations…some, short-lived,
brief encounters lost too fast,
she’s wept so many salty tears
grief stricken beyond her years
yet, memories of lovers lost
beget in her sweet moments
where pain and suffering will exhaust
and only images
that burn her cheeks
and warm her heart
shall trickle into heated
words in love poems.
(troiku)
first kiss – after,
a decade of solitude
stuff to write poems
first kiss – after,
too many years
like riding a bike
a decade if solitude
spiritual cleansing
looking within
stuff to write poems
always a good tragedy
love, lust and heartbreak
O is for oppressed as a person who may be filled with many worries. This could be someone going through a rough patch for more than just a period in his life. What if it is someone struggling for a longer time? People at work for example, may appear sympathetic at first but slowly, one by one they may distance themselves. Family and friends may also give less and less of their time to listen, encourage and just offer a presence. Or perhaps some may minimize the situation not really knowing what to say to “make it all go away”. First of all, it is not in “others’” power to make it go away but it might be nice to show some compassion.
(troiku)
oppressed off-putting on cloud nine
oppressed
feelings of dread
weigh one down
off-putting
look of suffering
can scare one away
on cloud nine
that distant look
hard to read
Imagine a person being shunned because you feel uncomfortable being around doom and gloom. Is it not enough that they are already feeling fraught with worry? What if it is not just a situational issue but a chronic emotional and mental instability they are going through? What if all they need is to feel accepted? What if they cannot even accept themselves or their “perhaps” new circumstance they have no choice but to endure?
I thought this might be something to think about. You know, the next time you tell a colleague something as benign as “Hi! How, how are you?” If you really don’t want to know and you have been seeing their sad face every day for a long time…think twice before adding “How are you?” if you really don’t care to know. A simple “Hi!” and a smile can go a long way too. Be genuine when you say something. Try to think twice when you walk into your workplace and look a person in the eyes when you say that “Hi!”
Tournesol dans un Jardin 