Migration

It is almost spring
and I have just come home,
having just been there,
like those black-necked geese
flying home to home.

There the robin had arrived
clumsy and bold-breasted
on the last snow
that came
like the first.

Here the robin stayed
small and poised
to see the winter through—
this bare, green winter
that would’ve been even longer
without it.

The doves welcomed me back,
side by side in the open sway of the lilac.

The blackbird teased with its company;
so often my only company.

This is some old writing, the opening pages of a journal I did while living in England, written after returning from a visit to the States. I offer it for all those who have, at some time, experienced being transplanted in one way or another.


©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

Margaret is an art therapist and reiki practitioner, and a wonderful artist and writer, with a unique style and voice. I share one of her recent posts that so beautifully captures the magic, the comfort, the peace of being in nature. Enjoy!

margaretgriffin

I look up through the layers of leaves and branches to the clear blue dome overhead,

An interplay of sunlight and shadow bewitch the eye as the leaves flutter,

The sun is gently warm on my skin,

I listen to the breeze, buzzing insects and birdcalls,

A butterfly hovers over dry leaves,

Peace.

The Oak Forest, Mt Alexander, near Harcourt.

9th January 2013

The Oak Forest was planted in 1900 to provide tannin from acorns for local tanneries.  

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Repost: Winter Flowering

Copyright 2012 by DM Denton

By the window

there’s a pot

of Paperwhites

as sweet

to the scent as

they are

to the sight;

one then two,

three,

even four

and five of a kind

with their eyes

so bright,

some looking out

and

some looking in.


Hope this brings a little brightness and sweet flowering to you day.

As well as being a repost from last February, this is also a sampling from my book ‘A Friendship with Flowers’ that will be available in the near future.



©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

A Valentine Imagined

Copyright 2013 by DM Denton

Daffodils like music can court the heart into stories that begin without end.

I followed the trail through mud and dust to walk mainly alone; the affairs of this life and others better recalled with imagination than regret.

When I stopped looking, love stopped leaving.

Everywhere is an embrace; the place I find myself is full of possibilities for engagement.

I cannot look at the moon and believe I am unloved, sense a breeze and be unmoved, know the birds’ song and feel forgotten.

There are flowers enough to romance me, even in winter I can paint them into view.

There are words enough to convince me that what I create is the only lover I need.

And so I am foolish still.




©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

Repost: A Friend Indeed

I have been considering reposting this one for a while, but thought the snowy painting was past its season. Until yesterday – the snow has returned in depth!

A Friend Indeed

O, the wild constancy
of the brave chickadee
simply changing his tune
like the man in the moon
for the tilt of the sky
as the seasons pass by.

Fitting a snug black cap
feathers all in a flap
it would seem for bad news
like everything to lose
with a cat prowling low
and the winds biting so.

But let’s have no real grief
bother this welcome thief
who’s scolding and chuckling
while squirrels are ducking
aerobatics for need
not insatiable greed.

Taking one sweet kernel
to task with a gurgle
pounding out on a limb
for cracking it open
and easy digestion
enjoyed without question.

I hold out my warm hand
in wonder not command
indeed only hoping
my offer he’s scoping
instead berries so bright
seeming more a delight.

Ah, then he’s looking back
at what I do not lack
listening for his voice
and smiling for his choice
so the touch of his trust
makes our friendship a must.

I have a precious little bird book from 1909 that includes the following description of the Black-Capped Chickadee (native to the Eastern US):

‘The Chickadees are one of the most popular birds that we have, owing to their uniform good nature even in the coldest weather, and their confiding disposition.’

What a lovely characterization of this sociable songbird!

A glimpse of my home (log cabin) in the snow

©Artwork, writing and photography unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

A House Near Luccoli by D.M. Denton | Review | Historical Novels Review

Historical Novel Society Review of my novel, A House Near Luccoli

Published by All Thing That Matter Press

A House Near Luccoli by D.M. Denton | Review | Historical Novels Review.

The remarkable Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella stands at the center of Denton’s bright, sparkling novel A House Near Luccoli. Unmarried, mid-thirties Genoan woman Donatella encounters the volatile, slightly disreputable genius and at first is appalled by his manners and eccentric ways, but she and others are also gradually taken by his undeniable charm.

Denton is an unapologetically enthusiastic writer (exclamation points abound), imbuing even her minor secondary characters with three-dimensional life. Her research into all aspects of the period is thorough but not wooden; this is foremost a book of characters and character-study, ultimately in many ways a book about how friendships form. Stradella’s life came to a very abrupt end, and this book does too, a bit – but it’s all immensely enjoyable just the same. Highly recommended.

Stephen Donoghue

I invite you to read additional reviews

and

more about the novel.

As always, thank you so much for your visit!

©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.