Afterglow/Sky-watch Friday

Streaks of purple and orange above the fading light of a fiery summer sunset in Cebu.

Enlightenment
by Samuel Menashe

He walked in awe
In awe of light
At nightfall, not at dawn
Whatever he saw
Receding from sight
In the sky's afterglow
Was what he wanted
To see, to know...

Twilight

by Samuel Menashe

Looking across 

The water we are

Startled by a star---

It is not dark yet

The sun has not set

Looking across

The water we are

Alone as that star

That startled us,

And as far

Linking to Sky-Watch Friday

Heart-shaped/Mandarin Orange Monday

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

~ Robert Frost

Linking to Mandarin Orange-Monday

Kalachuchi/Mellow Yellow Monday

Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way than this:

where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

— Pablo Neruda

 

Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

Multi-colored leaves/Mandarin Orange-Monday

“Still

In the fall, I believe again in poetry
if nothing else it is
a movement of the mind.
Summers ball together
into sticky lumps,
spring evenings are glass beads from one mould
for standard-size youth,
winter a smooth heaviness, not even cold.
But the mind trembles
here, on the brink
the mind trembles
there is life, after all,
there is life, still
unbelief left.”

~ Jaakko Ahokas

Linking to Mandarin Orange Monday

Dusty pink dream/SWF

In a Wonderland they lie, 

Dreaming as the days go by, 

Dreaming as the summers die:  

Ever drifting down the stream---

Lingering in the golden gleam---

Life, what is it but a dream?

~ Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

Remembering my father on his 71st birthday.  Happy birthday, Tatay!

Sky-watchers from around the world meet @ Sky-Watch Friday

Shelter [Watery Wednesday]

@ mirandablue

 "Weeping Willow with your tears running down, why do you always weep and frown?  Is it because he left you one day?  Is it because he could not stay?  On your branches he would swing.  Do you long for the happiness that day would bring?  He found shelter in your shade.  You thought his laughter would never fade. Weeping Willow, stop your tears, for there is something to calm your fears.  You think death has ripped you forever apart, but I know he'll always be in your heart."

Join us at Watery Wednesday

Sunrise, Sunrise [SWF]

@ mirandablue

Men toil by day and love by night,

but only dreamers cherish the light

of sunrise.

So open your eyes to imaginings,

for nothing's ever as it seems

at sunrise.

~ JVD

@ mirandablue

 Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

@ mirandablue

Waiting for sunrise at my roof-deck.
July 20, 2011

More sky photos from around the world at Sky-watch Friday

Fading sunset [SWF]

@ mirandablue

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,

but to fight my greatest enemy---myself.

Make me always ready to come to you

with clean hands and straight eyes.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset,

my Spirit may come to you without shame.

~ a Native American Prayer

@ mirandablue

Posted for Sky-watch Friday

Written [Photo Hunt]

@ mirandablue

A declaration of love for Ruth carved written in tree trunk. 

Love for country inspired a martyr to write a poem on the eve of his execution.  Now etched on marble at the Rizal Park, "Mi Ultimo Adios" (or My Last Farewell in English) is a patriotic swan song written by Dr. Jose Rizal on the night before his execution on December 30, 1896.

@ mirandablue

Posted for Photo Hunt hosted by TN Chick

La Union sunrise [SWF]

...and I thought

how the sun

blazes

for everyone just

so joyfully

as it rises

under the lashes

of my own eyes, and I thought,

I am so many!

What is my name?

What is the name?

of the deep breath I would take

over and over

for all of us?  

Call it

whatever you want, it is

happiness, it is another one

of the ways to enter

fire.

Drive-by photos as the sun rises behind the hills in La Union

28 August 2010

More amazing skies from around the world at Sky-Watch Friday

Lakeside eco-trail [Watery & Outdoor Wednesday]

Part of an 18-kilometer eco-trail surrounding Lake Danao in Camotes Island.  Best for biking and hiking activities...birdwatchers will also be thrilled to see various species of birds here.

The world turns softly

Not to spill its lakes and rivers,

The water is held in its arms

And the sky is held in the water.

What is water,

That pours silver,

And can hold the sky?

~ Hilda Conkling, Water

Posted for Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

Sundown [SWF]

Lord of the far horizons,

Give us the eyes to see

Over the verge of the sundown

The beauty that is to be.

- William Bliss Carman

Sunset at Manila Bay, Philippines

Posted for http://www.skyley.blogspot.com

Para sa 'yo [Litratong Pinoy]

sana’y paggising mo sa umaga
ay tulad ka ng bagong bulaklak
namumukadkad sa liwayway
at ako’y iyo,
iyong hinihintay...

ang aking mga saloobin
ay sa iyo
ngayong araw ng mga puso,
hindi kita makakalimutan.

Posted for Litratong Pinoy

Fontana sunset [SWF and FFB]

Oh, Great Spirit Whose voice I hear in the winds, And whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me, I am small and weak, I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people. Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy - myself. Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes. So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my Spirit may come to you without shame.

~ Native American Prayer

Photos were taken at Fontana Leisure Park in Clark Field Posted for Friday-Finding Beauty and Sky-Watch Friday

Roses [ Ruby Tuesday]

The flower offered of itself
And eloquently spoke
Of Gods
In languages of rainbows
Perfumes
And secret silence...

~ Phillip Pulfrey

roses from the University of Washington garden

Posted for Ruby Tuesday

Liquid gold [Watery/Outdoor Wednesday]

The sluggish days
of December creep into my skin,
stealthily moves shadows
under my eyes.
Shivering as the sun
turns water into liquid gold,
burning the stifled tears
yearning to be consoled.
Oh, where has the warmth
of summer gone?

~ Luna 12.1.2009

Posted for Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

Dark sunset [Sky-Watch Friday]

Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, and things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art; to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Psalm of Life

Justice for the victims of the Ampatuan Massacre!

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