hours of the day

For more description of these hours of the day, visit dawn, day, dusk & dark.

Disposable Child?

"Hey have you seen the disposable child With sunken cheeks and belly distended Hey have you seen the disposable child Exempted from grace and left undefended Born into a world that's so defiled Well now don't shed a tear he's just a disposable child.

Hey have you heard the disposable child One who's heart should be fillin' with wonder Hey have you heard the disposable child Who spent his youth dodging bullets and thunder Don't waste your time with this soul who's never smiled Now don't shed a tear he's just a disposable child

Hey do you know the disposable child Born into suffering, forced into hiding Hey do you know the disposable child It seems your agenda and his are colliding Asking only for love but feeling so reviled Now don't shed a tear, he's just a disposable child

To whom can you turn my disposable child When heaven and earth have left you forsaken To whom can you turn my disposable child When the winds of neglect leave you tattered and shaken Where the refuse of humanity is piled They don't shed a tear if you're just a disposable child"

--Peter Himmelman

the world in your hands

Several weeks ago while creating this collage, I noticed some words on the scraps of paper from where I had cut my images. They were intriguing to me, so I tucked them away for a later time. While I was preparing to cut up more scraps and images in response to my meditation on a healthy body, I ran across the partial poem and decided it was time to find the rest. I offer it here. Enjoy!


Settle for nothing
less than the
object of your desire.

Desire. The weight of. The weight of our
desire. Then laugh, cry, but laugh
more than you cry, and when you hold
the world in your hands, love Her.

--Alma Luz Villanueva from "The Object"

collage by lucy 3.21.09

december views - "open vessel"

"Holding nothing back means holding the intention to be an open vessel, in a daily way."

--Mark Nepo

introducing december views

For the month of December, I have decided out to join in the silence with "december views". Check it out here. Who knows what my offerings may look like. Collage, personal photography, shared works. We'll see where the silence leads. I invite my viewers, however, to use as many words as you like! Enjoy!

"bathed in golden light" collage by lucy 12.01.08

from whence shall my help come?

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From whence shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
THe Lord will guard your going out
and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

--Psalm 121

space for the mystery

falling into the mystery
i stand with arms wide open
waiting for the embrace of God
she greets me when i fall
she hears me when i call
leave space for the mystery

lectio divina

"It (lectio divina) is more like one organic process with four "moments"--reading, meditating, praying, contemplating--flowing naturally into one another."

"You may be led to speak from your heart, write in a journal, or express yourself through some artistic medium or movement."

inspiration & quotes from Lectio Divina by Christine Valters Paintner & Lucy Wynkoop

tell me what you see...

beauty distorted

abbey of the arts had a fabulous post today called "radical hospitality." i found it to be quite thought provoking and inspirational. pop on over and take a read.

ugliness knocks at my inner door
“go away” I say. “leave me alone.
I left you far behind long ago.”
but no. he is persistent.
he bangs & clangs the knocker.
“I am here and here I will stay
until you look me in the eye.”
I cover my own eyes as if I have
just stepped out of the darkness
into a blaring headlight.
it hurts and I shrink back for
I do not want to look ugliness in the eye.

he has followed me too long and
too far until I find myself
hiding from his face of derision
“time to work with me” he says
“it is time and you have run too long.”
ugliness is his name and I must
invite him in.
I cry. I weep. I moan.
it hurts too much to look in that mirror.
face twisted. beauty distorted.

ah, is that who ugliness is?
beauty distorted
gifts turned on their side
passion crying to be met
holding. weeping.
loneliness.
I fear it and so I close the door
and make myself alone.
I twist beauty into a mangled mess
and then I spit it out.

ugliness has come knocking at my door
“let me in” he says. “look at me. I am yours.”
he holds the mirror to my face
and shows me what I long for
aching to release hurt and loneliness.
oh Lord will I never come out of this
painful circle?
the cycle that keeps me alone
that pushes others away and holds
beauty’s distortion

ugliness has come knocking at my door
how will I invite him in?
gently, kindly. can I do it?
“take a look at me” he says.
“I am yours.”
I see mere shadow
growing in twilight,
dancing in moonglow,
going on his way
I open my eyes to see that
he is simply beauty distorted
the door is wide and
we are released

woman of the golden fleece

this past weekend, tess posted an evocative poem by marge piercy along with commentary about the power of poetry.

the stanza featured here resonated with me deeply and then tess in her lovely british manner suggested, "wouldn’t that part of the poem make a fabulous collage??"

needless to say, the images did not leave me, so this morning i spent time i did not really have (c'est la vie) creating these images for my visual journal.

cafe writing--men and women

Sunrise Sister reminded me of the wonderful exercises over at Cafe Writing. I opted to take challenge #6 which asks us to take seven timed minutes and write on the topic of men and women.
Simple, right? Well, here's what popped onto my page in this fun little exercise. Enjoy!

men and women. mirror images, are they not?
he says yes and she says no.
one says stop while the other says go.
what to do you say you say.
I feel like a doctor seuss book come out to play.

he is big and she is small.
one is fat and the other one tall.
they fight. they argue.
they love after all.
can’t live with and can’t live without.
completing the puzzle with partner and spouse.

independent they are and dependent too.
what is the balance? what is true?
they wrestle and cuddle and try to break apart.
their ego gets in the way and covers the heart.
stay. go. love. hate..
what can they do with all that’s on their plate?
work. kids. art and fun.
sometimes it’s easy and other times it’s dumb.

what what you say? where can we go?
life is short with so many choices.
hear me she says I have big voices.
they stop they go. they come in and out.
he walks away and she starts to pout.
they tickle. they poke. they make passionate love.
is marriage for real or is it all a joke?
no no you say it isn’t right.
love is forever not just a day or a night.

men and women. mirror images, no?
one says stop and the other says go.
writing. plotting. dreaming too.
when will seven minutes be up?
it’s a little like marriage and the bottomless cup.
come on let’s go. it’s time to play.
one on the seesaw, the other at bay.
the seesaw won’t go with one at the bottom.
two must be there or all is forgotten.
witnesses to life.
husband and wife.
men and women.
can’t live with ‘em can/t live without them.
writing away…

collage by lucy 2.08

deep sighs

see related post here

miracles and magic

"the true harvest of my daily life is somewhat intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. it is a little stardust caught, a segment of the rainbow which i have clutched." --henry david thoreau

collage inspired by "the paradoxical dance" couples' workshop. read more here.

my easter

return to art

yesterday i returned to my visual journal after several weeks away. in the morning i created the page called "steps back to art" not knowing that in the afternoon i would make an impromptu stop by the seattle art museum to see the roman exhibit from the louvre.

they make for a nice pairing, don't you think? both in returning to art creatively and visually. it was a delight to see the louvre exhibition since my stop in paris was so brief and made me hope that maybe the venus de milo had lifted her curse ☺.

chapter one

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." ~Lao Tzu

winging my way toward the city of lights. if all goes well, i will be arriving at the arc de triomphe around 10:00 a.m. thursday morning (2:00 a.m. pst).

i think i will be better prepared to follow lao tzu's wise words once i have landed, found my apartment and dropped off my bags...then begins the "no fixed plans" except, of course, to meet my friend, tess (who i have never before met) for lunch on saturday. we plan to let the wind blow us where it may...in other words, we hope to be quite "good travelers!"

open vessel

"holding nothing back means holding the intention to be an open vessel, in a daily way."
--mark nepo

be joyful

"the principal thing in this world is to keep one's soul aloft."
--gustave flaubert

rumi with a view