by Alfred-Arthur Brunel de Neuville (1852–1941)
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
Knock, and He'll open the door
Vanish, and He'll make you shine like the sun
Fall, and He'll raise you to the heavens
Become nothing, and He'll turn you into everything.
― Rumi
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
Why I Wake Early
by Mary Oliver
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
You can download a digitally enhanced version of the vintage artwork (seen above) as an 11” x 9” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Below is a close-up photo I took of a bicolourt tulip called “Flamingo Prince” drenched in morning dew. A lot of my first-year tulips were beheaded by “wascally wabbits” before they had a chance to bloom but I am hoping they will prove to be less tasty next year!

Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.




