For Tatie

Go to where the wild things are,

Or welcome them to you

Plant a garden:

Milkweed for monarchs,

Sages and zinnias,

Sunflowers and moonflowers for

Bees and hummingbirds,

Holly and blackberries

For the mockingbirds and waxwings;

Watch it grow.

Hang bird feeders,

Seeds and suets and hummingbird syrup,

More than you think you need.

Place them by the windows you pass

Most often in your days.

Raise the blinds;

Part the curtains.

Practice statio in your pauses

To gaze in expectant surrender,

In hopeful receptivity,

Asking to see His glory,

Ready to see His goodness,

Waiting for whatever good thing

Providence will send,

Contemplating the Creator

Through creation’s lens.

Sometimes I ask for a hummingbird

And He sends a hummingbird moth

Like a wink and a smile—

Watch this!

Sometimes no photos come

But the songs of bird chorus

Surround my soul with music,

An orchestra tuning its praise.

This too is beauty.

Sometimes a little lamb

Who lost her mom

Asks for a monarch

And a photograph

For the Christmas calendar

For the month her mother died.

And He sends one,

When she can see it

And drop everything to claim

With open hands

The gift He sent.

Keep the camera charged

And ready.

Embrace beautiful interruptions

To your plans.

Prepare your heart to say yes to grace.

In wordless prayer of a soul

With windows open to Jerusalem,

Wait and watch in hope

For the loveliness always

Winging its way to you.

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