Through most of January 2020, the California skies have been painted ugly shades of off-white and grey by planes spraying plumes of metal aerosols - to improve cell phone reception I'm told by some people, to control the population or make us all sick, as claim others, or to make it harder for "good" UFO to move around in our airspace, since their engines are electromagnetic and negatively impacted by all this metallic dust. Alas, the dust turns sunsets into magnificent color displays, just as smoke does after fires.
But some days are clear, with pristine azure above, or sapphire, or cornflower blue... There are so many hues of clarity in the winter sky! Even some snow on the mountains (in December 2019).
like lotus in the mud
mountaintops bloom
with pure snow white
The Grapevine hills 
dusted with fresh snow
for Christmas 
icing on the cake of
brown earth under grass blanket
snowy hills  of Grapevine
The white cover was limited to a certain height, below the hills were quite brown.
Rainbows
Let’s conjure up a
lovelier, brighter rainbow
made of jewels, translucent and opaque –
made of jewels, translucent and opaque –
They are you, head
to toe, a rainbow “you”
of strength and insight, presence and delight
You are a rainbow of endless Light
You are a fountain of boundless Love
You are a red ruby of life
You are a pure amber of creation
You are a bright gold of strength
You are a green emerald of affection
You are a blue sapphire of truth
You are a clear amethyst of perception
You are a white diamond of light
You are a bright diamond of light
The jewel rainbow of your body
The jewel rainbow of your mind
Grounded in the earth,
reaching for the sky
dancing among stars
you are Love – you are Light
of strength and insight, presence and delight
You are a rainbow of endless Light
You are a fountain of boundless Love
You are a red ruby of life
You are a pure amber of creation
You are a bright gold of strength
You are a green emerald of affection
You are a blue sapphire of truth
You are a clear amethyst of perception
You are a white diamond of light
You are a bright diamond of light
The jewel rainbow of your body
The jewel rainbow of your mind
Grounded in the earth,
reaching for the sky
dancing among stars
you are Love – you are Light
with me
(c) 2020 from Rose Always - A Love Story (rev. 2020) 
Sapphire
 My tiger orchid blooms again
for the third time already
It looks at me shyly
with topaz eyes
thinking, I’d remember 
that night, that music
of togetherness – 
Expand, expand, forever
expand – our hearts fill
with Cosmic Light of 
a thousand Suns – 
liquid and flowing 
to heal and purify
We thank, we praise
the One Love 
that blossoms 
in emerald gardens
in sapphire flames
and bright tiger eyes 
(c) 2020 from Rose Always - A Love Story (rev. 2020) 
Some of the trees turn gold in December, the Big Tujunga Wash is so lovely at this time.
silver and bronze bushes, 
gold poplars and ash trees -
the riches of my valley  
 cherries start to bloom 
spring and fall at once -
all seasons in the now
 Twin Palms and the hills -  
 perfection welcomes me
in the morning 
Amber
Red gold of falling leaves
and amber, liquid amber
engulf me with the intensity 
of our love for all seasons –
Even the invisible California
winter
without snow, with bright sunshine
and birdsong each morning – in time
for Darjeeling tea, Columbian
coffee
and naleśniki, flat Polish pancakes
with a touch of maple syrup from Vermont.
The whole world celebrates with us 
for we know true meaning of
attachment –
not the pink blush of infatuation –
not the wine-red rose of passion –
but this, only this – pure clarity 
of azure skies – clear radiance of
red gold 
and amber – liquid amber 
(C) 2020 from Rose Always - A Love Story (rev. 2020)
amber and sapphire -
California colors 
for the end of time
San Francisco Marina on December 26, 2019 was so delightful.
fold the sails
after worldwide travel 
rest in sunlit bay
And so  sunny and clear was the Mahnattan Beach Pier earlier
in November one afternoon. The sky was a bit more purplish.
in November one afternoon. The sky was a bit more purplish.
a spaceship hides
in a thick white cloud -
 looking at you, kid
 a flotilla of clouds
watches over the valley
in sapphire peace
what's left of the last
cloud will soon disappear -
sapphire summer 
the doves of love
line up in my sky
for a new song 
twin voices, twin songs
twin loves in the sky -
dove heaven 
This Afternoon
   You are the music while the music lasts.
  
            ~ T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding
The woodpecker measures time by the thickness 
of tree trunks. Birds make nests, hidden from 
hawks, safe from scrub jays. We wake in sunlight, 
with twirling patterns still under our closed eyelids.
We listen to high-pitched calls of hummingbirds,
the random flutter of wings. We breathe in spring air 
with smoothly flowing melodies of birdsong, 
the sweetest of nectars. Waves crash on distant shores 
of the Pacific. Stars appear dimly above the horizon, 
that glows with the bronzed orange of departing Sun.
We live on the planet of children’s laughter.
We watch refractions of light in my sapphire ring, 
on diamond dew drops that cling to blades of grass, 
half-opened roses. We live on Earth of abundance 
and beauty. We live on Earth of plenitude and calm.
There are no sorrows here, no worries. 
No before, nor after. No plans. We take deep 
breaths, count to eight, inhaling smiles to the tips 
of our fingers, into our toes. I laugh. You laugh.
Crystalline peals echo through the Universe – 
from galaxy to galaxy, star to star. 
We grow and grow – infinite, gentler, wiser – 
we understand all, embrace all, know all. 
Perfection. Presence. Light. 
Imagine – A Poem of Light
      … a cloud that scatters pearls
           
 
                   ~
Rumi
Are
you an apple? Or maybe
a
ripe seed inside an apple of light? 
You
are snug and safe in the core of a torus
of
light rays. You are wrapped in white
silk
of light, rays come from your crown into your 
toes,
surrounding you with a bright cocoon,
of
magnetic lines, six winged angels stand 
on
all sides, watching over you.
Are
you, perhaps a fountain?
Your
heart – the spring of goodness. 
Liquid
light pulses and flows from you. 
Your
heart-beat marks the smooth rhythm 
of
the sky of the sky of the sky of the sky. 
The
light! This miracle you forget about 
every
day as your blood carries your 
heart
light into every cell of your body.
Not
a fountain? A star, perchance?
Or,
maybe, two stars. A larger one brightly shines
 On
your chest, its rays straight and dazzling, 
multicolored
sparkles dance in the brightness 
of
your aura. See, the second star blossoms 
on
your forehead, as radiant as the heart star
Here
you are: an arc between stars, 
a
lucid rainbow of ancient gold  
still
shining, shining, shining –
(C) 2020 from Rose Always - A Love Story (rev. 2020)
            Gifts
 …the necklace of songs,
that you take as a gift
                                                    ~ Rabindranath Tagore
I gather sunlight 
in my palms
to save for later
when it’s dark outside
and hope seems lost.
My hands are full 
of brightness.  
I gingerly carry
the tangle of sunrays
in a procession of gifts,
down the aisle.
I gather sunlight
to keep close 
to my heart,
and warm us 
through cold 
winter nights
with a rich glow 
of sunfire.
(C) 2020 from Rose Always - A Love Story (rev. 2020) 
hills slide from orange
into darkness below
periwinkle sky
