The drumbeat of water is the best sort
of background noise, punctuated
by birdsong and the occasional
distracted glance at nimbostratus
hovering in the distance, invitation
to tease their own condensed element
back to earth;
And now here it comes, sideways slants
glancing off metal rooftops, gusts
of wind billowing off corrugated eaves,
settling onto shrubs and bedding plants
tucked into mulch for a summer not
quite yet arrived;
While the southeast portion of the island
liquefies under Pele’s fiery fingers,
unseasonably protracted showers continue
here in the north, saturating sacred ground,
percolating down and into turquoise ocean
channels to draw the gaze wide and vacant
over vast distances, infinite possibilities
cresting just above an indigo horizon;
I do not know how I would fare living
inland, perpetually having been anchored
to one shoreline or another, yearning
for seas on which to launch a thousand
projections; hopes and dreams carried
forth on variable winds meant to capture
and billow the sails of fellow mariners.
~photo series “What the rains bring,” ©Bela Johnson
How wonderful, Bela!
Thank you, TS! Trusting you are well! Aloha 🌺🌈👻
Not only do you have a beautiful way with words but a camera in your hands creates more beautiful ways! 😎
🙏🏽 Mahalo, Paul. I do love taking photos when I remember my camera. Too caught up in beauty sometimes to think of it! ❤️
I have some taken here at home coming out in tomorrow’s picture parade over at you know where! 😉
Yes, you take some pretty great photos yourself, Paul! Will check yours out soon. Just jumping online to answer comments this morning. Reading time later on 😉 Peace <3
Seriously talented photographer 😉 Do you know Ark? He’s great with nature too, especially animals: https://attaleuntold.wordpress.com/2018/06/30/bits-and-bobs-and-odds-and-ends/
Thanks so much, Pink. Now I know of Ark! Thanks for the recommend! 🤗😘
Wonderful and swept away with: “I do not know how I would fare living inland, perpetually having been anchored to one shoreline or another”
🙏🏽 Thanks, David. Better, this kind of sweeping. 😉
Beautiful poem and photos Bela. I really do envy those who are so close to the ocean. I was raised in So CA and spent many days as a youngster on those beaches, of which I could have stayed forever. I will be going to visit dad in August and am hopeful I can again see the beaches of my youth. Hope you are well.
Thanks so much, Renee. Yes, you would understand being within an hour of the beach while growing up! I didn’t care how sandy I was, how sunburned or hungry, I never wanted to leave.
Hope you can, indeed visit the beaches. More people, is all 😉 Wishing you all the best! Aloha <3
😎
Beautiful photos and a lovely poem! (I too need to be close to saltwater…. unfortunately we’re about 90 minutes inland now…. but at least it’s doable for a day trip.) Enjoy your sea, Bela! 💕
Yes, Betty, and 90 minutes is not too awfully bad. At least you’re not in the middle of the country somewhere. There is beauty everywhere, and certainly rivers and streams and lakes are lovely. I lived right on a lake in Maine for 34 years of my life. Though we were also 40 minutes from the ocean, so it worked 😉 We visited the ocean today with the dogs who swam in the river that runs to the sea at Pololu. Will be posting pics here soon 😉 Aloha <3
Will look forward to seeing pics! (I’m behind reading blogs today – maybe you already posted them. 😊 ) And you’re right – there is beauty everywhere, in the natural world, at least.
(Not yet! Behind with reading as well.) ❤️
Such gorgeous photos and poem, too. You really live in paradise!
Thanks, Eliza! Yes, we do. But so do you! I never considered Maine – at least where we lived there – anything short of Paradise. Like a fairyland to me. Never thought I’d leave, but things change. The cold and lifestyle were wearing on us both. And so here we are, in another Paradise 😀 Aloha <3
So beautiful Bela. I hope the mushroom were outdoors 😉
They were not. A type one must raise indoors here. Though they def will grow best during rainy season! 😬😊😘
“I do not know how I would fare living inland, perpetually having been anchored to one shoreline or another, yearning for seas on which to launch a thousand projections” – how do you write these beautiful lines – *talent* – and your photos are breathtaking. Hello Bela – hope this finds you well. xo.
Aww, thanks my friend! You are ever kind. All is well here and hoping the same for you and yours. Got to catch up on reading – running south today to get my laptop looked at by my trusty computer guy. Macs don’t have many problems, but when they do … Big hugs, Mahesh. <3
Take care, my friend 🙂
Thanks for sharing nature’s beauty through your pictures, Bela! Its a real treat for the ‘inlanders’ 🙂
Glad you enjoyed them, Vidur. So many more I was sharing them one at a time before I switched themes. Now it’s much easier. ☺️ Aloha, Namaste. 🙏
Swept away. Beautiful…
Thanks, David. 🙏🏽🤗