April Fooled By Deer Ones

Ranuculus and pansy blooms chomped away
Tulip Treats

April Fooled By Deer Ones

***

In another part of the city

I had a container garden

and grew flowers in large pots.

They became ‘salad bowls’

for the hungry passing deer.

Now where we live here

I grew tulips in pails

and set out a table of flowers.

This morning, I awoke to see the table

became a ‘buffet table’

for more hungry passing deer.

They ate tulips, pansies, ranuculus,

avoiding daffodils, hyacinth, crocus,

so now I chuckle at packaging

claiming ‘resistant to deer’.

Perhaps a fool but I’ll plant more. 😂

April 1, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC

Those Held Dear

Those Held Dear (my digital music composition)
We weep the loss of those held dear.
We hold their memory with our tears,
with flowers and stones
that honour their names,
releasing their bodies to earth,
to water, to air, and to flames.
We note the dates of their birth and death
with comforting words to those they’ve left.
Were they loving? Were they kind?
What were the things they left behind?
How did they define their life and worth?
We celebrate and mourn with grief,
repeating inherited or chosen beliefs
as words of power to banish fear
in knowing our turn, too, is drawing near.
Were we loving? Were we kind?
What were the things we left behind?
What defined our values and our worth
co-creating our life on Earth?
I sit in the cemetery’s morning light
watching such a heart-welcomed sight.
Three brave and gentle, beautiful deer
quietly approach me, ever so near.
I send them feelings of joy and peace,
finding freedom in cares release.
I share their calm presence, so gentle, so brave.
They feed on wildflowers growing on graves.
I share their gift of Here and Now,
no longer concerned by when or how
the stories of our lives will end.
This Present draws me gently in
to that ever still and timeless space within-
into the Light I see so clearly-
into the Love I hold so dearly-
Communion, Compassion, and Mystery.
No one is separate, forsaken, alone
for this Light is pure Love and Light is our Home.
Space and Time are wonder-filled Life at play
creating magic everywhere, everyday.
Space-time is fabric woven of Life Itself,
interwoven, vibrating Energy
creating Experience, experiencing all,
All That Is Itself, Its glorious Self.
Everything is expanding Consciousness.
Life moves and creates and feels through us-
the Observer that sees behind our eyes, all eyes-
the Divine in everyday, common disguise.
Everything is Source Energy-
different frequencies, varying degrees
of evolving Awareness-
even all that seems dead and inert
like mountains, rocks, sand, and dirt.
We watch to see how things behave-
disappearing particles, dancing waves-
surprising evidence appearing strange.
We jump the boundaries of our Age.
All Matter is Energy in a Process divine.
Form and Energy are One in Truth sublime,
yet forms do ever change and disappear
so we weep the loss of those held dear.
I feel grateful and humble as I can be,
enjoying this morning’s company
of silent deer and thoughts of those held dear.
But they’ve gone beyond and are not here.

Shelley Wilson
June 22, 2013

May your Spirit shine brightly, Shelley

Running With the Deer

Running With the Deer
Past evergreens I walked where no path led,
my head bowed by duties and obligations.
Into a timeless place I found my way
where a young buck and doe stood quietly together.
There, through the beauty of their eyes I saw
the wordless warmth shared by all true friends
and lovers.
They invited me to run with them through the forested
places of the mind and heart.
In that timeless place we’d share
the sheer joy of being part of all that’s wild and free.
You may see me, now and then, running with the deer.
September, 1992