Scraps and other blessings

 Think of all the things that are better than their components. 

Soups and stews are more than a bit of this and that. 

We prize quilts stitched from left over pieces.

Choirs sound lavish and deep when individual voices may be just a bit thin.

Last night, I made a new rule for myself. Before I can sleep I must write something that I made up. Journal notes on the day don't count.  Once I made that rule I wrote down the word "soup". Here is what followed.

Soup gathers together the scraps and the drippings

And warms them and stirs them and turns them to gold.

And soup made of gold can build up your spirit

And wrap you in sunshine to keep out the cold.

A life made of gathers of other one's leavings

Might seem like a poor life or one filled with tears

But a quilt made of tatters is warm in the winter.

A house patched with love can last many years.

So do not discard the riches life gives you

Just because those gifts do not match your desire.

Patch sadness with love and worry with laughter.

Add your small voice to the galactic choir.

                                                            Karen Maurer, 10/26/2020

Go well, friends. I have missed you.

Remembrance - 9/11/01

I wrote this on September 12th, 2001. It was meant to soothe children when things - big or small - go wrong. The song does NOT address the event that evoked it.  I have no clue how to encompass the hugeness of that loss in a song. It has a melody to go with it.

When the world breaks in two -
now, I don't want to scare you
but skies always blue
are in stories alone -
well, you get out the glue and
you patch things together.
That's what you do 
when you have to move on.

Though your life's rearranged
and your smile may falter,
The stars will still shine in the sky.

With a crack in your heart,
or a scratch on your finger,
toys all in parts
or a friendship gone wrong -
Morning will come and
you'll pull it together.
One step at a time, you'll go on.

When the world breaks in two,
with my love as the glue,
you'll get by.

Authors try to help kids process big events.  Here is a list of books written about the terror strikes on 9/11/2001.

Remember. Look for the helpers, as Mr. Rogers' mother always told him. And whenever you can, be a helper.