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comments feed wordpress org thursdaytreelove the poet and the mountain the poet dreams of the mountain mary oliver sometimes i grow weary of the days with all their fits and starts i want to climb some old gray mountains slowly taking the rest of my lifetime to do it resting often sleeping under the pines or above them on the unclothed rocks i want to see how many stars are still in the sky that we have smothered for years now a century at least i want to look back at everything forgiving it all and peaceful knowing the last thing there is to know all that urgency not what the earth is about how silent the trees their poetry being of themselves only i want to take slow steps and think appropriate thoughts in ten thousand years maybe a piece of the mountain will fall my sharing this poem is a little punny since i am both poet and mountain seriously i don t know how mary oliver s poems always manage to speak my thoughts and feelings it s been rough living in this world lately it would be nice to forgo all that urgency and surrender to the pace of nature slowly climb some old gray mountains sit in solitude count the stars and absorb the poetry of trees if only we would allow ourselves that grace about the images a couple of weeks ago my hubby and i took a different route while returning to alabama from georgia we paused at a lookout in mentone alabama the scene was breathtaking so we had to slow down and yield to its beauty posted on june 11 2026 june 11 2026 categories thursdaytreelove alabama healing nature poetry trees tags thursdaytreelove alabama mary oliver mentone mountains nature poem poet poetry puns quiet solitude stillness surrender travel trees 2 comments on thursdaytreelove the poet and the mountain beautiful tuesdays moved by sunflowers the long work of turning their lives into a celebration is not easy from mary oliver sunflowers my son and my friend linda encountered sunflowers last week the same day at nearly the same time he was walking to a session at emory university in atlanta and she was picking sunflowers in canada with her niece they thought of me snapped shots and sent them via text message the sunflowers arrived just when i needed a bit of light i am moved that people think of me when they see sunflowers it s beautiful actually posted on june 9 2026 june 9 2026 categories beautiful tuesdays flowers iphone photos poetry quotes sunflowers tags beautiful tuesdays flowers gifts mary oliver microblog poem poetry quotes sunflowers leave a comment on beautiful tuesdays moved by sunflowers my poem in the stafford challenge anthology the purse you know that feeling when something cool happens and you just have to tell everyone that s where i am right now the stafford challenge 2025 26 anthology released recently and i m soooooo excited to share that i have a poem published in the anthology published by wild poet press i wrote the poem the purse last august while thinking of mildred an adjunct spanish professor who passed away from breast cancer in her first semester of teaching for us fall 2020 no one knew she was struggling with the disease her cute little coach purse was the focus of our first interaction and it became more significant after i learned of her passing here are the first and last verses from the poem the purse excerpt chandra tyler mountain i coveted her purse it was cute it was black it was coach i later learned what she discovered sooner this cute little thing a purse too small was a grand gift after all teaching her how to let the unnecessary go i had been holding the purse in my spirit for five years before i actually wrote it though i struggled with whether i should submit this particular poem i could not think of a better place for it to first appear publicly alongside my fellow daily poetry writers yay the stafford challenge anthology is a special project and being part of it twice now means more than i can say my friend cy sat in my office yesterday and read a couple of poems they were so good she purchased the book immediately the anthology is full of beautiful and strong voices that speak to the various facets of our human experiences if you d like to read my full poem and of course poems by the other writers click the image below to order the paperback or ebook posted on june 5 2026 june 5 2026 categories musings from my grown self poetry quotes stafford writing challenge stafford writing community writer tags the purse nobots anthology musings from my grown self poem poetry quotes stafford writing challenge stafford writing community 7 comments on my poem in the stafford challenge anthology the purse soft moments impact every now and then a facebook post pops up or i receive a message from a student thanking me for the impact i ve had on their lives i ve begun to save those little notes not to boost my ego but to remind myself that even when i think i m doing very little or just doing my job someone is learning growing or feeling seen and heard and even though subject matter is important that part is more critical because that s when we are operating within our purpose or as sarah jakes roberts puts it where heaven meets earth my entire career has been guided by the principle that my work is ministry even so i was not prepared for what happened a month ago thanks to a meeting with one of the organizations our university partners with edward s a man who graduated from my former institution waltzed back into my life now a vice president for the organization after i introduced myself he paused and asked are you the dr mountain who worked at dillard university i hardly had the yes out of my mouth before he began to enthusiastically exclaim about the role i played in changing his life some years ago based on his description of my office at least 21 years ago i had absolutely no recollection of him or the encounter but he credited me with his bachelors and masters degrees and the trajectory of his family s life because of that brief encounter quite a hefty weight he recounted the situation for me he was set to graduate but learned within weeks or was it days of commencement that he was one course short this was already a critical problem it was made worse by the fact that he was accepted into and poised to begin graduate study in his words that one course requirement could have negatively impacted his life if i had not listened and engaged and worked with him to find a solution and the solution i offered was the same one i d offer today how do i know because i offered it to him in that moment and he echoed my response animatedly he could hardly wait for our meeting to end so he could call his wife i was a little embarrassed as he repeatedly thanked me throughout our meeting but i understood it sometimes we administrators get so stuck on policy that we cannot see creative approaches to operating within the policy the goal of policy is not to hurt individuals but to protect the institution so the question for me is always how can i help without hurting here s the thing i took from that lively unplanned reunion though i sometimes miss having regular classroom interactions about literature and current events the most mundane everyday parts of my job matter and the impact on students lives is just as significant as my slipping from academic lesson into life 101 with them posted on may 27 2026 may 27 2026 categories teachers tags college dillard university higher education impact influence professor life professors soft moments students teacher appreciation 4 comments on soft moments impact soft moments tiny touchpoints i dropped it in the post on my way home and then for a minute i stood looking at the wooden pane with a gaping slit which divided me from the letter but a moment ago in my hand it was gone from me like life never to be recalled it would get tossed about on the sea and stained with sea waves perhaps and be carried among palm trees and scented with all tropical fragrance the little piece of paper but an hour ago so familiar and commonplace had set out on its race to the countries beyond elizabeth gaskell cranford this morning as i sat in my happy place watching the rain i read two letters i received recently as i considered the words i mindlessly opened an alice in wonderland pouch i d packed with pretties a few years ago inspiring postcards miniature art from artist friends letters notes and such and an envelope i d taken apart to make the beautiful innards more visible that scrap of paper became the centerpiece of a morning junk journal page i call it my homage to a good letter when they returned home after errands my guys handed me three joyous envelopes they retrieved from the post office box this afternoon my homage summoned the happy mail to reclaim my status as a snail mail revolutionary a few weeks ago i began sending postcards to a handful of pen friends per week initially it was a way to take daily breaks during the intense graduation season then it became something more connection a brief hello a moment for common interests a tiny touchpoint between friends so much more satisfying than a text message an email or a social media post posted on may 26 2026 may 26 2026 categories beautiful tuesdays letter sisters letters literature mail mail art quotes tags beautiful tuesdays connection elizabeth gaskell junk journal junk journal page letter writing letters postcards quotes small joys snail mail snail mail revolution the beauty of small 11 comments on soft moments tiny touchpoints soft moments small joys my lilies which have bloomed for six years now struggled this year the winter was chaotic and brutal so though they bloomed they did not do so luxuriously to add insult to injury their yearly dalliance with the sun was short lived before my disappointment took root i was surprised to find glorious lilies in the same color family as i traipsed between buildings on campus and i remembered there s always next year for my lilies in yet another effort to regain balance this week i ll be taking the time to pause and appreciate the tiny encounters that create a life so join me as i share soft moments and small joys about the images the top two photos feature the campus lilies the bottom photo with the excerpt features my lilies the poem transitions was one of many i wrote in response to poet john brantingham s spring prompts in 2024 john encouraged a life of radical wonder sadly john passed away easter morning this year hugs and prayers for john s beloved wife ann posted on may 25 2026 may 26 2026 categories flowers iphone photos microblog mondays musings from my grown self nature photography pic poem poetry spring writer tags nobots flowers john brantingham joy lilies microblog mondays microblog mondays 2026 musings from my grown self photography photos poem poet poetry radical wonder small joys small pleasures soft moments spring the beauty of small 9 comments on soft moments small joys creative gathering days 15 21 whoa this post is looooooonnnnnng overdue i was sending pics of some of my junk journal pages to my bestie when i realized i didn t share the rest of my work for sheila s february 2026 creative gathering here on pics and posts i hang my head in shame again since we all deserve a break from madness mayhem and too much thinking here s a bit of eye candy as my bestie describes them for your thursday click an image for a closer look junk journal day 15 junk journal day 16 junk journal day 17 junk journal day 18 junk journal day 19 junk journal day 20 junk journal day 21 day 15 chattanooga choo choo you re singing it aren t you day 16 posts from jane austen day 17 mardi gras day 18 attention day 19 scrappy hearts day 20 shalom day 21 thank you there s a lot of randomness as usual i was reflecting on the time i spent in chattanooga with colleagues and students on day 15 and having a bit of nostalgia for a new orleans mardi gras day 17 the mardi gras page looks a little lacking but i plan to fill in the empty space with words i had fun taking apart cards and envelopes days 16 and 21 and even a proof copy of my latest book of scripture haiku day 20 i m still doing a few junk journal pages weekly weekends only these days be sure to stay connected i ll share the next seven pages from the creative gathering soon they form my favorite set happy thursday posted on may 21 2026 may 21 2026 categories art challenges journals tags art art challenges balance challenges creative gathering creative joy drops of sacred water eye candy hearts journals junk journal junk journal page scripture haiku self care leave a comment on creative gathering days 15 21 phylicia rashad you are that splendor phylicia rashad helps us find good light thanks to her relationship with our president dr gina spivey brown the phylicia rashad who played the role of claire huxtable on the cosby show 1984 1992 served as my university s commencement speaker last friday i am not exaggerating when i say we were over excited to hear her speak but t...