I’d like to present a gift to you loyal readers, and I’m so excited about it! As you’ve hopefully already heard, my first of three poetry collections, Where the Butterflies Go, will be FREE starting early tomorrow morning (12:01 a.m. PST Thursday June 21) until 11:59 p.m. PST on Saturday, June 23rd.
You can search for Where the Butterflies Go at any Kindle Store – including Amazon.com and Amazon.eu – and find it free during these three days! It will go down to a crazy-low-price when the promotion is over, too. I want more people to find and have access to my poetry. Partly because I think it can touch more people, but also because of what it can do for UNICEF (I am still giving half the proceeds from these first two collections to their Gift of Education program and other third-world educational programs).
Go get it. Tell others to go grab it FREE. Tell them to check out my other poetry collections here. And enjoy being on the lookout for butterflies, and other small miracles!
With love,
you feed me
on raw fish
when our world’s
upside down,
chaos around,
people drown, small
as bugs in the
sink
while forces of
nature
grow tall and
blossoming cherries bleed,
spilling red, white –
hopes like vomit on
shaking ropes,
will they hold? sing, sing sakura ‘cos
spring
is just ‘round
the corner miwatasu kagiri – as far as i can see
destruction kasumi ka kuma ka – like fog, like clouds
descending, tears
blind my eyes,
close to the coast
the giants crack loose
and still nioi zo izuru – the scent, the colors
of strength in the air
raining rosy,
holding my fear izaya izaya – let’s go,
let – go,
bow low and pray
for the melting to stop and
you feed me on
sushi
‘til I’m silent, ‘til
I know, hana zakari – blossoming time
is close
Sakura: the japanese cherry blossom is one of the most important symbols in japanese culture. It’s an omen of good fortune, new beginnings, beauty and also a metaphor for the fleeting nature of life.
How insignificant we seem; how trivial our troubles become, when our world is seen from high above the clouds. We are but a small speck in the palm of this great galaxy, yet each of us leaves our mark on every living creature we touch, talk to, type to— even Tweet. Every new day holds promise—it’s up to us what we do with that promise.
Sometimes, I feel so much pressure, so many To-Do’s, so overwhelmed. I squeeze every minute out of the day, until I’m running on empty. There are times I don’t even remember how I lived it—or if I lived it.
I’ve come to realize that the moments that matter the most to me—the ones I hold closest to my heart—were not full days or full weeks. They were mere moments. Minutes with tiny wings, fluttering by like fragile butterflies. If I’d blinked, I’d have missed them.
I don’t want to blink. I want to take each new day and hold it in my hand. Not like the tight fist I make when I’m frightened, or cold, or just being stubborn–but a wide open palm, welcoming a butterfly to rest its wings there for a while.
I want to experience each day fully—good and bad. To live in the moment, then let it go.
The first time our young daughter caught a snowflake on her tongue. The look on my father’s face as we danced on my wedding day. My mother singing along to Bon Jovi, inciting our feisty toddler to reply back, “No, it’s MY life!” My husband giving up his airplane window seat (and holding my Starbucks coffee for me) so I could capture images of the sun rising over the Rockies on the first morning of a new year.
This is a promise to myself to stop and take more careful notice of something or someone in my life, every single day.
Don’t blink, or you’ll miss it. I hope you’ll join me on my small adventure.
Sun Rising Over Rocky Mountains, Jan. 1st, 2011Early Morn Over the Rockies, January 1st, 2011
Share this! REALLY, it's ok! :) And don't forget to sign up on the landing page to join the HGS BookClub.
Just when I thought this contest couldn’t be any more fun or get any better–it just did.
Two more entries arrived in my inbox this weekend, and they’re from a friend I’ve never met in my home town of Ottawa, Ontario! Yay, Ottawa!
Writes artist Ieneke Jansen, “I am a self-taught artist who was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. I absolutely adore the capital, and wanted to “Canadian-ize” my entries for Leap.”
Eternal Flame at Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada, by Ieneke Jansen
'Leap in Peace'--Peace Tower, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada--by Ieneke Jansen
Thanks for entering and for being such a proud Canadian, eh? Ieneke!
Readers, don’t forget to vote for your favourite photo contest entries on my Facebook page here. Rules for this contest are posted here.
Again, thanks for all the fun everyone! I’m thrilled with all the leaps you’ve taken with this contest. It means so much to me that you’d all jump in like this, be a little nutty, and have such fun with this! Keep the fun, creative photos coming!
Cheers
Heather
Share this! REALLY, it's ok! :) And don't forget to sign up on the landing page to join the HGS BookClub.
Heather Grace Stewart 