365 Snap Shots of Life: Day 202

It’s horribly tragic what just transpired in Aurora Colorado. The selfish, thoughtles and careless act of one person, unleashed loss in families, a community and our nation. Today I will post another one of my poems that didn’t make it into my book, Salsa! The Taste of Life, due out soon. I want to honor the families that were directly touched by this sudden tragedy…R.I.P.

God‘s Workmanship

The Master is forever working, creating, perfecting.

His subject? A living canvas.

He chooses and mixes the various mediums.

What starts out seemingly chaotic, is being made perfect

through His loving touch.

His discriminating eye is constantly scrutinizing…

the past, He obscures in shades of gray,

lest you forget from where you came.

Accentuating in dazzling hues those things about you,

that deeply touch and delight Him.

On those days you are feeling frustrated and forgotten:

Do Not Fear! The Master is lovingly letting the canvas rest.

For there are wet layers of paint that must dry:

Deep-seated issues that can’t be worked out overnight.

Tomorrow, He’ll continue where He left off.

Then there are days of non-stop work.

The canvas cries out, “I’m tired! I have had enough!”

The Master lovingly ignores the pleas,

for He alone knows when to cease.

At times when your fears seem insurmountable,

and failure is your constant companion.

Rest assured His plan is bigger than the canvas:

He will work it ALL out!

Those things that hurt,

the wounding you have suffered,

He mixes His tears with dark shades of crimson…

…to remind you He’s been there with you, holding you

as you were shamed and mistreated.

Alas, The Master stands back,

the living canvas is nearing completion…NOT!

For this is the work of a lifetime.

May the fullness of the essence of God,

forever wash on your living canvas!

You Are His work of art on Display!

365 Snap Shots of Life: Day 201

I am so happy that now the editing phase of my new book is done! WHEW! It was not nearly as terrible as my sometimes exaggerating mind had made it out to be. In fact, I GREW from working with an editor! Thank you Amber Losson from Tate Publishing company for helping me to sharpen my writing and polish up the content 🙂

I am going to start posting some of the poems I cut out from Salsa! The Taste of Life. They didn’t make it into the first volume of this book because it would have made the book to long and more difficult to market. Yes, you read correctly, this is a first volume of I what I hope will be more in the future. I will keep you updated on the progress of my book!

HAIR!

Hair! Hair! Hair!

Hair is everywhere.

It’s neither here nor there.

Those who have none, or very little, say,

“Hey! That’s not fair!”

Those who have too much say,

“Hey! I feel like such a bear.”

The curly heads cry,

“Wish mine was twig straight.”

The twig straight reply,

“Why can’t we have spirals?”

It’s all such a terrible bore,

when you have hair galore.

We all go on and on

about a bunch of dead cells.

We spend millions of dollars

on all manner of fancy hair products,

that never quite deliver

their sales pitch promise.

But there is one thing to be said about hair,

the more you treat it and tease it,

one day you’ll wake up to find,

your head has become quite bare.

So be kind to your locks,

treat them with care!

365 Snap Shots of Life: Day 152

Well I can now say I am excited about the progress of my next book: SALSA! The Taste of Life. I just received my manuscript back from the editor today and she said she thoroughly enjoyed reading my work. Right now I’m working on first edits and I’m happy to inform you that the changes I have to make are minor.

You see, when I wrote and self-published my first book: AS CLEAR AS CLAIRE GETS, A CONVERSATION WITH THE PAST, I did it all on my own and I couldn’t afford to pay an editor to work on my book. So when Tate Publishing agreed to publish my second book, I cringed at the thought of working with an editor because I didn’t know if my writing would stand the careful scrutiny of a professional editor. Today I cast all that fear aside when I heard back from my editor and she informed me that she was well pleased with what I wrote. I am doing the Snoopy Dance right now!

In the upcoming months I will share with you as SALSA! begins to take a life of its own. Once the book is released I plan to have fun trivia contests here on my blog so that you’ll have a chance to win a free, signed copy of my book. SALSA! is coming out soon!