“Belonging comes before identity. Ownership births purpose. Someone speaks whose we are, and out of that we become who we are. It’s just the way the heart works…” —Charles Martin, Keeper of Water. Having recently finished Keeper of Water, the above quote has resonated in my soul. Somewhere deep in one’s being there is thatContinue reading “Cloaks of Identity”
Author Archives: sherryvycitalyork
Finding Purpose
A quiet contentment A breath and a pause Resting not rushing All the day long No matter the action One’s called to do With purposed direction Contentment comes too So long I’d been searchingThroughout this vast world Discover my purpose Find that that does fill The longing inside meWould not go awayThrough searching life deeplyI’veContinue reading “Finding Purpose”
The Measuring Cup
Mother’s Day. Hard to believe another year has flown. Since my mother died several years ago, Mother’s Day began changing for me, as did many of the family traditions that orbited around her and Dad. Traditions of gatherings that we never considered breaking… traditions that were born of their large, cohesive families who grew throughContinue reading “The Measuring Cup”
Beneath the Ventilator
As the woman lay flaccid she barely felt the tube placed into her airway, emergency treatment to correct her failed breathing. Her body raged with pneumonia and infection, her temperature high, her fluid levels low as dehydration became worse. Completing the intubation the paramedics hovered over her, administering oxygen while providing respiratory support via ambuContinue reading “Beneath the Ventilator”
Skating Blind
She touched his face, and then again after a spin, as though orienting herself to him as the music started. I was mesmerized by the gracefulness of both these young skaters, he in a dark suit, she in a gossamer short dress. There was an air of innocence in their demeanor, that kind of purityContinue reading “Skating Blind”
Victim or Victory
When reading posts on Facebook (mine included), I find at times a thread of victimhood that raises its hoary head. It knocks on my door of awareness, and breaks my heart for those ensnared, captured in ways perhaps they do not yet recognize. That has certainly been my life’s experience. As the windows of myContinue reading “Victim or Victory”
On the Brink of Eternity
Someone said she was dying. Decades before her grandson-in-law had quipped, “We are all dying a little bit each day, from the day we were born.” Well, that was understandable… yes, we grow, and as each day brings us closer to our earthly end, one could say we are all on the dying continuum. SeemsContinue reading “On the Brink of Eternity”
Knocking on the Tomb
“Oh come on!” I silently thought, hammering on a screwdriver inserted in the old hinge of the bathroom door. All I wanted to do was place a door stop in the hinge, replacing the one near the floor that was falling out. “Should be easy enough,” or so I thought. Of course, the hinge pinContinue reading “Knocking on the Tomb”
Good Friday Sacrifice
People entered, all was darkCandles flickered to light the wayReverant yearning filled the air As echoes rent tranquility Steady pounding hammeringStillness reigned in candle glowWonder filled each waiting soulLonging for soon’s Easter mornMore entered in amidst forlorn Cryptic sounds of hammeringNo one spoke nor cried His nameOnce jubilant shouts “Messiah! King!”Then singers sang in darknessContinue reading “Good Friday Sacrifice”
Beyond Vulnerability
She could barely describe the situation, so overwhelming it felt. Yet she knew she could not rely on her feelings… they were capricious, diaphanous, wispy like foggy droplets wafting on the breeze. They were without substance… just feelings. And yet they flew at her like ice pellets in a raging storm. She felt her headContinue reading “Beyond Vulnerability”
Palm Sunday Snow
Yesterday’s arbor stood in sun Leaves emerging on weathered vines Then like manna came the snow Covering old death with promises Nature poised and waiting tooPouring out its glad refrain This Holy Week rememberingLife then death then life again
Communication Frustration
Oh that words and their intentCould be heard full rightly How often wounds and discontentRise up when off-heard slightly Does correction mean mistrust Raise slights from others given Or are one’s faults that much more Articulation ridden Whate’re causes the breakdown In understanding’s purpose When defenses are thrown up In place of hearing courteous WhenContinue reading “Communication Frustration”
When Fear Knocks
Many years ago I heard the saying “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” It made sense that when overcome with the thought or emotion of fear one could become captured or paralyzed within its grasp. Yet, in this highly emotional, increasingly fear-filled world, how is one supposed to combat that? As always theContinue reading “When Fear Knocks”
On the Edge of Faith
Think of those Olympic diving contestants, balancing on steady toes, high above a deep pool. Place them on a spring-board, one that actually moves with barely the whisper of one’s controlled breathing. There they stand, forever it seems, collecting themselves, imagining in their minds the flawless twists and turns they would execute before slicing perfectly,Continue reading “On the Edge of Faith”
Bittersweet
Tilting on a spinning top Keeping balance by a threadOne’s life whirling ‘til it flops Waiting ‘til it moves ahead Mesmerized by glorious gainFlinging, crashing uncontrolledExcited to start o’er again Climb to heights as yet untold Ordeals leaving one undone When the air becomes too thin Survival orders one come down Bittersweet the efforts thenContinue reading “Bittersweet”
Death of Expectations
Reality wrecks when crashing downExpectations shatter loud The hopes one had, the suretyNow cracked and broken at one’s feet Testing comes, rears up it’s headTo search what mettle one is madeA reed that’s supple, teachableOr stiff, aloof, willful instead If truth be shouted from the shards Of broken dreams in the dustAll dreamers have anContinue reading “Death of Expectations”
Wild Hotdogs
Wild hotdogs set to roast Ready to pluck from furrowed ditchGrow alongside mountain roadsCattails skewered on slender sticks Rhizomes spread tall spiky leaves Something homey in their grace Marking marshy, wetted lands Invite travelers stop their wayThey bend and sway with wind and rain Fluffy stuff when summer’s doneSeed heads waiting time to fly Autumn’sContinue reading “Wild Hotdogs”
Fellowship of Thoughts
Offered to our minds and heartsWords we listen to each dayWhat fellowship do we keep Truth or lies as our mainstay What do we welcome in as ours What names do others call us byAffirming or degrading onesTerms that uplift or decryCommon words in culture nowRarely spoken in my youth Harshly whittle people down ThenContinue reading “Fellowship of Thoughts”
Strawberries for Richard
Hugging her basket close as she hurried from her home to her employer’s house in the newer part of the town of Laon, Stephanie LaFleur anticipated the day ahead. It was the early 1950’s, the airbase at Laon-Couvron being restored by the United States Army Air Force. Resurrected from an old base Germany had claimedContinue reading “Strawberries for Richard”
The Winking Marionette
Anna Marie skipped along the cobbled street. She had become adept at skipping from stone to stone, across the grooves in between, to land on just the smooth places that would keep her from wobbling. At age twelve she was just at the budding edge of becoming a teenager, and all of her being exultedContinue reading “The Winking Marionette”
Wry Not?
I had I laugh, in a wry sort of way, when I read the meaning of dextroscoliosis, a word noted in an old chest X-ray report. One of those “deep meanings” I like to find, or maybe just a bit of light-heartedness in the tumble of things. Born with wryneck (really, I’m not kidding), IContinue reading “Wry Not?”
He Who Wants You
The dream was foggy in her memory… but for the words “He Who wants you.” The words stood out like a glowing banner, though no glow was visible, just the steady pulse of assurance deep inside the truth. It had nothing to do with human relationship, but of a deeper kind from the Source ofContinue reading “He Who Wants You”
Released
Oh, the pain of brokenness,The grief, the sorrow carried thereAn opening door to let us soarTo freedoms from what binds and snares Cruel prisons long have held us back From true joy You’d have us live Through the broken door’s no lack Of the freedoms that You give And as those shattered fetters fall WhatContinue reading “Released”
A Thing About Brains
You could say I have a bit of a glow going on. A far cry from Moses’ experience on the Mount, this glow is minute in comparison, and cannot be seen by anyone, besides my doctor and me. And that only on images produced by a high powered Spect scan nuclear medicine camera. A smallContinue reading “A Thing About Brains”
Sudden Storm
The road opened onto a wide snow-covered plain. Blue pine-covered mountains with fondant layers of snow reigned in the distance, surrounding the west and north views of valley. The east side was more windswept, yet flanked, too, with snow capped peaks that melted into treeless brown lazy lumps of snow-sprinkled hills, sagebrush poking up likeContinue reading “Sudden Storm”
Dew Upon The Arbor 