From home to Home by Toni Cross

Right now, my husband and I are in the process of watching his beloved Grandmother slowly slip from this world into the next. The night before last, as I sat up in her hospital room, listening to her labored breathing, the following words came to me.

 

As the space between breaths lengthens

So the space to eternity shrinks

Here death does not steal or stalk

But waits as a plain and welcome bridge

Love dwells both here and there

A shining figure silently beckons

The journey is but from home to Home

Yon Natal Shores… by Toni L.A. Cross

 

 

My spirit is longing

For yon natal shores

Ethereal beaches of eternity

Where love’s waves

Foam up on pristine sand

Sand dampened

With salty joyful tears

Its surface adorned

With fresh impressions

Made by the feet

Of beloved deceased

Perspective: A Poem & Poetry Reading

Click play () on the video below to hear a recording of me reading this poem or just scroll down and enjoy the text version.

Perspective by Toni L.A. Cross

perspective

seems to dwell

in hospitals

and graveyards

in the quiet

sodden grass

aging stones

sterile silence

white walls

and barren rooms

contemplation’s space

a sobering parenthesis

interrupting the flow

of normalcy

where heartbeats

are deafening

and time slows

individual moments

into freeze-frames

the cataloged past

cannot be edited

but the future

is unscripted

The Day After… by Toni Cross

Picture taken from Favim.com

 

the day after Christmas

we are obligated to return

to our normal routines

but will we hold cupped

in the palm of our hands

a bit of that peace

and a sprinkle of joy

for the rest of the year?

those small seeds of joy

can plant a whole field

and a few nuggets of peace

can birth a strong forest

to shelter with your world

 

 

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Romans 12:18

“If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.” 1 John 3:14

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ” 1 Timothy 6-7

 

 

Remember why we celebrate Christmas.

If it is only about the presents and lights and the tinsel and seeing who can be the most “Martha Stewart”, then all the time you spent preparing for one day, the 25th of December, is indeed wasted.

But, if we cling to the true meaning of this season and hold in our hearts the One who came that we might love one another, even as He loved us, then nothing is wasted and yesterday was the dawn of another year of opportunity for us to choose love.

Christmas and Hanukkah Paperdolls

Well, I did exactly what I usually do when I end up near a scanner, with spare time, paper and pencils. I made paperdolls for my own amusement. I decided that I might as well share them with you.
Here they are:

 

(I’d like to add that I borrowed the poses for these dolls from Rachel Cohen’s FANTASTIC paperdoll website, Paper Thin Personas. They are loosely based off of her Pixie and Puck series. Click here to check out her designs. Please note that the Christmas theme is my own and was not endorsed in anyway by Rachel. She does not celebrate Christmas and I have no wish to offend her.)