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Teri Leigh 💜's avatar

I think this is one of the reasons I love owls so much. They touch the sky and the earth, and they touch the dark and the light, the day and the night. That liminal space that birds embody....just ahhhh.

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

YES! Owls are majestic. I love them, too, Teri Leigh. Every time I see one, I feel time halt. There’s a sacredness surrounding owls. We’ve spotted a barred owl, an Eastern screech owl, and a great-horned owl in our backyard since we’ve lived here.

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Teri Leigh 💜's avatar

my home is covered with owls people have given me as gifts. I just got two more to add to my collection as a birthday gift last night. I never said I collect owls, but apparently I do.

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Denise Piepoli's avatar

I love your poem about our feathered friends and wanting to go where sky and earth meet. I’d like to go there too. 🦅

I love birds and really enjoy my sparrows that visit me several times a day

It is their bird song, moments of sweet and pure joy that send tiny blessings no matter where I am in space and time.

It always makes me smile.

The chirps and whistles , their throaty sounds, all speak to me

—like little prayers floating in the air. 💕🙏🏼

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Oh, I love your last line here, Denise—”their chirps and whistles are like little prayers floating in the air.” You really have a knack for poetry. Thanks for sharing this today.

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Breeann Adam's avatar

“I wrote this poem while sitting in a dark and near-empty sanctuary one weekday afternoon. The silence and stillness became fertile soil upon which this poem was birthed.” - I love this catalyst for creativity 💜

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Thanks, Breeann. I appreciate you stopping by to leave that comment for me!

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Mansi's avatar

I love the micro and macro juxtaposition you’ve created, Jeannie. I feel the expansiveness while also the steadiness. When we stretch our gaze to the infinite, it humbles us. I think, often, that birds probably laugh at the importance we earthlings give to trivial stuff, hyper focused on the minutiae when there’s so much we don’t even see…

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Aw, thanks for the interpretation, Mansi. I had not thought of macro/micro until you put that into words for me. Thank you. This one literally poured out of me, and I never edited it, so…?

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Mansi's avatar

It’s from your heart and it shows. I don’t think I’ve ever edited my poems…there’s such freedom in sharing the rawness of that stream-of-consciousness-writing. I hope you continue to do more of it because it’s absolutely stunning, my friend 🥰

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Thanks, Mansi. I have another stream-of-consciousness poem coming out today. :)

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Imola's avatar

Grateful to you always, Jeannie, this time, for helping me look skywards!

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Ryan Delaney's avatar

Exquisite, Jeannie.

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Thanks, Ryan!

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Alexander Lovell, PhD's avatar

What an intriguing paradox you present: looking "upward, skyward, heavenward keeps me grounded and sane somehow." It’s an unconventional take on grounding, typically associated with roots and the earth. But you’ve turned it on its head, suggesting that by expanding our gaze to the infinite, we paradoxically find our stability. This makes me think about how often we look down or inward when we're trying to find stability, when sometimes the most profound grounding comes from recognizing our place within something far grander and more expansive than ourselves.

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Oh my gosh, Alex, you totally gave my spontaneously written poem a formal analysis that feels so…literary! Regal! What an honor to show me my own words in a way that hadn’t occurred to me. Thank you, friend!

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Doreen Frances's avatar

I always think about how even on a bad day, the birds still sing and that makes my heart happy.

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Yes! This is one reason I love birds, Doreen!

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Charlotte Pence's avatar

Beautiful imagery in this poem! And I love the juxtaposition of how looking upward grounds the speaker.

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Charlotte, the mere fact that you found something good in my poem, knowing that you are a poet, is a true and deeply valued compliment! I really struggle to believe I am good at writing poetry at all. This one just came to me, and I'm not saying it's great, but I loved writing it.

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