Jenny Grace's Poetry and Creative Writing Techniques

Until We Meet Again, My Husband, My Heart

Not sure how to bid you farewell.

Paths led in the damnable direction of an ending God refused to halt.

Ice cold hand in my palm; life leaving that dying man whom I loved three decades of my life.

Early Sunday morning on the first of September. Pitter patter of raindrops on the petals of the yellow marigolds planted in those blue window boxes. World outside the bedroom window, sun’s early light, birds serenade like a chorus.

Our lives together unraveling; that long road slamming to an ending neither of us wanted.

Doors closing; final curtain falling.

I place a final kiss on your forehead, remind you that I will love you whether you are here or not.

The magnitude of your life’s earthly ending swallowed me up that early September morning.

How will I face the looming darkness without you by my side?

Surprises . . .in the storm. . .

Early Sunday morning I sat at my dining room table with my heart heavy with sadness. Rain clouds had cleared and the morning looked fresh as the wind gently moved yellow lantana and pink and orange zinnias around in my garden.

I looked away from the window briefly and felt my heart fill with sadness and my eyes with tears.

Then like a miracle, like a balm sent to give me comfort, I saw the fluttering of magnificent yellow and blue butterfly wings alight on the pink zinnia petals in the middle of my garden.

I just sat at my window and in amazement drank in this reminder that although the world is filled with pain, injustice, and grief, there still are those little surprises that God sends us to remind us that in the darkness there is still beauty.

This is a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. She simply sat on the zinnia as I carefully approached her to snap a picture. Surprisingly, she simply fluttered her wings as if she knew that I needed to be near her, that I needed her reminder that in the ugliness of this life there is incredible beauty, and goodness.

Did God send this beautiful butterfly to remind me that I am not alone, that I can still smile despite the tears that plague me, to remind me that there is always hope and that joy is still possible?

God is God of miracles and I believe he sends us what we need at the exact right moment.

Thanks be to God, Our Father who is always with us, who always shines a light in the darkness.

Perhaps even sending a reminder on the wings of a butterfly.. . .

Pearl Moon (poem from 2021)

Summer afternoon,

misty cool rain washes away sadness,

residual pain.

Approaching promised moon like a pearl balloon floats above cloudy lanes drenched in rain.

Earth beneath forever sky shimmers, shines with endless life.

Blueness blends in a thousand shades: sky, birds, flowers, rocks, rivers.

Earth aches under its own weight.

Power, beauty, prisms of light sparkle in rain puddles,

and drench the parched earth.

Standing in the Pause

To pause means to briefly stop an action.

Before resuming it again.

On the other side of this extended pause in my grief process is the looming finality of loss that I cannot even utter.

If I don’t utter it then maybe it will just wilt like a dying flower that doesn’t get water. Maybe it will just go away. Wither like scorched leaves.

So, I am standing in the pause knowing that in the next few weeks (maybe days) that I will have to face the other side of this extended pause.

I will have no other choice but to face the darkness that is on the other side of this pause.

I will have no other choice but to accept the inevitable.

I often stand in my garden and just stare at the little statue of Mother Mary and the pink rain lilies that grow near the statue. I often read the garden stone that reminds me to walk by faith.

By faith.

God is supposed to walk beside me.

I wish Jesus would reach down here in this dark tunnel of grief and lift me up into his protecting arms and hold me and wipe my tears away.

I hunger for the peace that only God can give.

My heart is so very broken and I am lost down here in this dark tunnel. . .

I lift up my eyes unto the hills. . .just like the psalmist wrote. . .

My help comes from my Lord, maker of Heaven and Earth.

I am standing in the pause.

And I am gripped by sadness.

I am powerless to change the trajectory of all of this.

I give it over to God to comfort me and lift me out of this dark tunnel.

And to walk with me as I prepare to step into the other side of this pause.

Please pray for me and my family.

Thank you.

On a Quiet Walk. . .

I have been taking quiet walks in the late afternoon despite the heat of the day. . .

Just yesterday, I went downtown and decided to walk along the cobblestone streets in the historic district.

This magnificent Marian shrine has spires that can be seen from several blocks over. The spires beckon like the lights shining from a lighthouse on a troubled sea. Just knowing this Marian shrine is only a few blocks away gives me comfort. It offers tranquility and rest from those burdens that trouble me.

I stopped and snapped a photograph to share with you all.

It was a late afternoon and the sun was shining on the red leaves of this small oak tree.

I felt blessed to simply feel the sun on my skin, to feel the light flutter of wind from the river just a few blocks away.

Life is still beautiful despite the burdens and the troubles that this life presents us with.

So, be mindful of God’s love and the perfect promises that he has made.

Be mindful of the tranquility offered within the sacred walls of Marian shrines and those other sacred places in which people of God kneel and pray.

Live your life everyday with thankfulness that you have another day to witness the beauty of God’s world.

Take a walk in late afternoon and remember to pray.

Is It Just My Imagination?

Just the other day I was walking down the sidewalk and happened to notice this flower. Is it just my imagination that I see a starfish in the middle?

I researched flowers and tried to identify what exactly type this is, but I wasn’t able to find a name for it.

It is so unusual and I have never seen this type of flower, so if anyone knows what it is called please let me know in the comments.

I love the beauty of nature.

Thanks and have a beautiful day!

Bell Peppers and Road Construction

With the price of food in the grocery store I decided to be proactive and plant my own vegetable garden. I just wanted to share with you my bounty. Perfect peppers. I can’t wait to put them in my salad.

It’s simply amazing how God has created this earth, how this earth provides us with exactly what we need to feed ourselves-rich soil, cool rain, and the sun’s warmth.

These past few months I have had to travel a lot and I have noticed the continuous construction of highways that have managed to cover the rich, life-sustaining soil with asphalt. I can’t help but think the covering up of so much potential farm land is counterproductive.

Don’t we have enough highways and freeways?

I have started my own garden. The vegetables taste fresher than those shipped hundreds if not thousands of miles to a warehouse and doused with chemicals before being waxed and placed in a grocery store.

Have you ever wondered why after you take home your vegetables and fruit they rot after a few days?

I suspect chemicals are doused on these just to keep them from spoiling until we buy them and take them home. By that time, it’s too late to complain.

Maybe I am wrong. . . .I’ve been wrong before. But, I suspect I am right. . .

Anyways, my vegetables taste crisp, sweet, and delicious and spoil in a reasonable timeframe because I don’t douse them with chemicals. In fact, I eat them before they can really spoil.

I know exactly what has been on them and I know exactly where they came from. . .

My little vegetable garden at the edge of my patio.

From my garden to my table.

I feel thankful to God for this bounty.

I feel thankful for the earth, the sun, the rain, the sky. . .

The rich, life-sustaining earth that should not be covered by asphalt is a concern of mine.

What will happen one day when we run out of farm land?

Some might think that is not possible. . .

But, if we turn a blind eye to all the unnecessary construction of roadways how can we truly know what the consequences will be in the long run?

In my little world I choose to plant a vegetable garden and enjoy the freshness of the vegetables that I have grown.

Consider planting a vegetable garden.

Consider educating yourself on the harm too much construction does to our natural resources.

Just a few thoughts I wanted to share on this Monday evening. . .

Butterflies and a Sweltering Hot Day. . .

As temperatures soared to 100 degrees Fahrenheit I got bored of being home under the air conditioner, so against my common sense I ventured out. Naturally I chose to walk around an outdoor garden center (this fact is in line with going against my common sense).

As I sweated and adjusted my sunglasses, I slowly walked along the aisles and admired the petunias, daisies, ventas, hydrangeas, and roses in various states of decay due to the excessive heat.

I paused at the row of beautiful deep purple butterfly bushes and lo and behold I witnessed several butterflies and mason bees darting in and out of the lush flowers. Well, I love photography, flowers and nature so I snapped this absolutely amazing photo.

I wanted to share it with you all because it is important to remind ourselves that there is beauty and there is joy in this world. . .despite the ugliness, hatred, and horror that rears itself far too often.

So, I hope you enjoy just admiring this beautiful butterfly alighting atop the deep purple butterfly bush’s flowers.

My advice is for you all to take a few minutes everyday to seek out joy and calm among nature.

Turn off social media and the news. . .

And pretend just for a little while (or longer) that the world is simply filled with butterflies, sunshine and flowers.

Remember that kindness is free.

So, this week be mindful of kindness; be mindful of the beauty around you.

Enjoy your week.

Sunday Morning Drive

“The Earth Laughs in Flowers-” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Okay.

There are days that have burdened me with unbearable sadness.

Days in recent months that convinced me that I could never possibly find joy again.

Joy can come in unexpected moments.

This morning rather than sitting in a brick and mortar church I went for a Sunday drive and headed out of the city down a secondary backroad that ran parallel to an old railroad track. Old farmhouses and an industrial park and untended farm fields lined either side of the road as I drove along in the early morning hours.

Ah! In the distance, to my right I saw a field glistening with lemony yellow sunflowers lifting their deep green stalks towards the turquoise summer sky.

In stunned silence, I thought it was an illusion.

But, alas, God has crowned his earth with beauty so perfect and so complete that it leaves us speechless.

So, I walked among the lemony yellow sunflowers and the fields of pink zinnias, yellow and orange marigolds, and white and pink snapdragons.

Standing among the glorious flowers I envisioned that heaven must look exactly like this glorious garden. I found out that a family of farmers cultivate the flowers along with watermelons, cantaloupes and a variety of vegetables.

They allow visitors to cut a bouquet of flowers (for a minimum price, of course).

I collected a variety of flowers and now that bouquet is beautifully adorning my dining room table. Every time I look at it I will be reminded of just how beautiful this world is; I will be reminded that joy can come in unexpected moments.

I will be reminded of how my heart healed and laughed at that tiny joyous sparkle of roadside beauty.

Indeed Emerson was correct when he noted that the earth laughs in flowers.

The earth in its beauty brings laughter to our hearts and heals our suffering souls.

So, go for a drive and seek out the little roadside surprises that await.

Be watchful of unexpected blessings.

I feel blessed by this day. I feel blessed by this day that God has made.

I feel joy in my heart and I can face whatever is coming in my life because I know there will always be flowers blooming in the rich dark soil.

And I can always take a Sunday drive.

Happy Fourth of July, 2024

So, here we are another Fourth of July.

To some people this day means going to the beach and drinking beer and watching fireworks.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

After all, we are Americans and we have the right to choose what we want to do.

We have the right to be who we want to be.

We have the right to speak our minds and to protect ourselves and those whom we love.

Over the course of a few years some factions of society have criticized the American way of life.

But, this being the United States, they have the right to voice their opinions.

As I have the right as an American to voice my opinion.

I love this land called the United States. It is my home. I have no other country in this world I can go back to. There is nowhere for me to return to. This is it. In researching my family history I traced my first English ancestor having arrived from Yorkshire, England in around 1630. Others arrived at varying years in the early 1700s from Austria, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

So, I guess Europe is my ancestral home. I have visited the Republic of Ireland and I found it a most beautiful land.

But, it is not my home.

I am not European.

I am an American.

So, I celebrate the Fourth of July as a time of reflecting on what it means to live in a free land guaranteed by our United States Constitution and our Declaration of Independence.

I am an American.

I love this land that is my home.

Happy Fourth of July, 2024!