Poems

Peace in the Key of E

2020-06-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

Truth and Tenderness

2011-06-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

The truth of tenderness
finds the way through--
past the tangled webs,
around the power traps,
and beyond the storms.

Tender truths then
float softly above the clouds,
wrapped in the softness of their essence,
toughened by the cactus of endurance,
clothed in quiet pride
and
strengthened by the hearts of deep knowing.

Margery Layton
5-2011

Whispers

2011-06-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

A gentle breeze whiffs lightly through the openings,
softly singing into parts unknown
but firmly, gently felt.

The hearts of knowingness
whispering to each other
with secrets drifting through the air,
then lighting on a single flower.

Margery Layton
3-2011

Knewness

2011-06-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

What gives lives.
What rays stays.
What knows glows.
What glows grows.
What cares shares.
What grades fades.
What sings wings.
What doves loves.
What climbs chimes.
What grows flows.
What rests nests.
What plays stays.

Margery Layton
1-2012

Light Streams

2010-01-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

Softly moving streams of light,
shining in the darkest night.
Coloring in passing by,
lightly moving through the sky.

Brightening, softening the way,
blessing, opening each day.
Wonders wandering here and there,
safely wrapped in loving care.

Margery Layton
6-2011

Light Wraps

2010-01-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

Wrapped in packages of light

we glow into the night

nodding to fireflies in our passing.

Then softly and surely

greeting the dawn

with fresh resolve

and songs of peace.

Margery Layton

10-09

Special thanks to-----

2009-12-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

Mariel Garcia: Creative Consultant
John Shada: patient, invaluable guide in computer territory
Karla Skonnord: Overall Consultant
All of my kindergarten students with their wondrous spirits
and
All others who open and brighten the way.
2/2010

Starting Point

2009-12-26T07:26:00.000-08:00

When, in the whisper of a voice,
we wonder where or why we've been,
and what we've found when we were there,
we know we can begin.

Margery Layton
in the 60's

Light Song

2009-12-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

There is a candle in my heart

glowing in the softness there,

sending out its gentle rays

while wrapping them with tender care.

There is a candle in my heart

shining softly all the while.

Other searchlights come and go

and never know an inner smile.

There is a candle in my heart

singing, freeing souls with light,

warmly waiting where it lives

in softer days and brighter nights.

There is a candle in my heart

flickering in feathered homes,

then soaring high and diving deep,

far beyond its home of poems.

Margery Layton

1994

Be a Lighthouse

2009-12-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

Be a lighthouse--

beaming and beckoning those who are at sea.

Be a lighthouse--

a tall, sturdy structure with open windows to your soul.

Be a lighthouse--

shining the way through the darkness and the storms.

Be a lighthouse--

warmly welcoming and kindly greeting

ones who truly know and softly embrace your inner treasures.

Be a lighthouse--

always lit from inside out and

shining out those truths that never fade away.

Be a lighthouse--

showing ones who cannot see

the ways to see.

for Mariel

Margery Layton

1996

Lightness and Soundness

2009-11-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

When lightness finds the sounding source

and eagles fill the skies,

souls are freed and songs are sung

to wakened hearts and eyes.

Beams of light that shine the way

fold us in their care.

Spirit voices fill the void

and guide us everywhere.

Softly folded in our wings,

tucked in gentle nests,

wonderment where doubts have been

while all within us rests.

Margery Layton

1996

Light News

2009-10-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

The fragility of tenderness has strong roots,

deeply implanted and firmly imbedded far within

its own rich, clean, healthy soil.

Winds of change sweep in, out and around

the blossoms that come and go and grow and form and grow again.

Roots and routes expand and spread in evergrowing depth and life wonder,

awed with beauty and divinity inherent.

Fragile toughness lights, grows and touches each and all

while sounds and furies are distant rumbles,

stirring up self-commotions, neither heeded nor heard

except by the own furies as

Heart and lightedness lead ever strongly and more firmly

to ways opened and opening in mature honor and authentic strength.

Margery Layton

1991

Light Wish

2009-09-21T08:25:00.000-07:00

May the light of peace

and the peace of

light

shine surely and strongly

through and true

for each and all of you.

Margery Layton

Dec. 2002

Lucidity

2009-09-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

I tarry not in dragon lairs,

nor fear-drenched caves

nor cold, dim halls with endless stairs.

I travel on the sunlit paths by lucid streams

that find the way to deeper dreams.

Margery Layton

1995

Lightings, Soundings and Formings

2009-08-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Lightings, Soundings and Formings

Soft glow lights and heart-tuned smiles

stay stronger than the slyest wiles.

Earthborn notes and knowing ropes

move slowly past the slickery slopes.

Driving truths that speed their way

dawn the night and star the day.

Stagnant pools are left behind

so waterfalls can fill the mind.

Finding ways that stay the course

avoid the quicksands of remorse.

Sun filled hearts and star strewn souls

are not confined to any roles.

Reaching past the measured rulers,

fast frozen in their frigid coolers.

Going up to touch the sun

and finding open ways for fun.

Taking time for Solitaire

and just enjoy the being there.

And always knowing being true

means really being true to you.

Margery Layton

11-96

Caregifting

2009-08-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

A gift from the heart of true knowing

carries with it

an eternal light,

one that glows beyond the storms,

shines through the clouds

and on forevermore.

The sounds of birds unheard

and songs unsung

give notes to meanings,

forms to life

and treasures beyond all measures.

Hold the spirit softly and surely,

then let it go soaring high

and free and mightily

where it will.

Margery Layton

2004

For Anthony Ray, Caregifter

High Country

2009-08-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Here
where the stillness breathes in silent wonder,

softly met from time to time
by flowers slightly stirred and
by wings blending with universal rhythms

Here
where the freshness cleans and cleanses
in beauty and oneness

Here
where the mountains envelop
with their ancient spirits
singing and safeguarding
the sanctity and fullness of life
and eternal verities

Here
you are!
a fresh, golden buttercup,
new, sturdy, fragile,
shining as the snow melts
your eternal friendship
lightly held and firmly known
in all the vast and secret places
that hearts and spirits find
in traveling on beyond.

Here
the sun and you are golden, joyous friends,
laughing in the sparkling, dancing circle
where we join and hold your hand.

For my mother, Marguerite Kober Gerlach
Margery Layton
1978

Free Gift

2009-07-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

The voice of her songs
and
the songs of her voice
keep singing on
throughout the universe
and
in hearts of true knowing
that join in from anywhere
and
nowhere
and everywhere.

Souls in flight
rest softly
on passing clouds,
gently nodding
to earthbound ones,
inviting them to join in
the new/old awakenings,
blending their rainbow hopes
with soft filled prayers.

Margery Layton
3-2011
(in honor of my mother,
Marguerite Kober Gerlach)

2009-07-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Morning Dew

With gentle thoughts
and soft-lit sighs,

with bright winged birds
and endless skies.

Margery Layton
7-27-2011

(In honor of Marguerite Kober Gerlach)
b. 7-27-1891
d. 5-21-l978

Ode to Aunt Florence Gerlach

2009-07-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

You gave us dignity and grace,
a flowered charm growing through
the garden of your soul.

A gardener you always were,
tending to the soil,
pulling out each weed with meticulous care.

No tears watered your ground,
just a special kind of dry-eyed persistence
partnered with an amazing endurance
that wore down the odds.

Valiant lady, quiet friend,
sensitive with delicate understanding,
safeguarding vulnerabilities
with quiet knowing.

Sharp, incisive mind cutting through confusions,
slicing through tangles with clear reason.
Coolheaded logic frosting out demands,
inserting wisdom of the years to unlock fears
and open fresh doors of understandings.

Always a gardener,
implanting in us your surest and truest seeds.

A butterfly, wings tipped with golden wonder,
hovers briefly over your garden
before blending itself with sun and sky.
Its universal message lights once more upon our hearts.

Margery Layton
Spring, 1989

Softly Spring

2009-06-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

The heart of spring

is spring-filled hearts,

the kinds that give us all fresh starts.

The silent hopes

and quiet dreams

gather by the living streams.

A note of joy

and bluer sky

gift us with a gentle sigh.

A softer ground

from feathered snow

prepares our earth and helps us grow.

A cleansing rain

and rainbow spread

give cover to our garden bed.

A warmer sun

soft lights the way

and gives to each our newborn day.

Margery Layton

3-2000

(In loving honor of Howard Waltz, an eternal spring)

Ode to Mariel

2009-05-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

You are known in hearted wholeness.

You are felt in warm-lit passageways.

You are seen in sparkling wonderment.

You are heard in life's own music.

You are found in hope and joy.

You are treasured in your treasures.

You are shining, sparkling crystals.

You are humor wrapped in faith.

You are courage and mind reaching.

You are grace and you are light.

You are wonder.

You are you!

Margery Layton

Spring, 1996

Louise

2009-05-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Louise

Here on the shores of tranquility
a heart of true, sure knowing comes shining through.

Practical, determined and yet---
ethereal in its wings and wisdom.

Rays beaming us on and safely through,
with soft-lit smiles and gentle laughter.

Endearing and enduring,
while sprinkling us with feistiness,
close attentiveness
and all that loves and lasts.

Margery Layton
10-2011

(In loving honor of Louise Smith,
an eternal friend.)

Moving Day

2009-05-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

When there are empty rooms inside

that fears attempt to occupy,

disturbing, disrupting and tossing about,

leaving havoc in their wake,

the soft and gentle coloring of butterflies

stop them at the door.

Like silent sentinels,

they wait and watch and know

the peace that lives within

and moves without.

2006

Unseen Birds

2009-04-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

When the icy fingers of cold indifference

grasp us by the throat,

stifling our voices,

the warmth and breadth of human understandings

melt away their tight grip,

replacing them with sounds of music,

heard and unheard

like birds unseen but always there.

Margery Layton
2006

Safe Passage

2009-03-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

You and I are on a covered bridge..

one filled with warmth and light,

Aglow with faith and love all clothed

in soft-lit rainbow bright.

Within this cozy covered place,

this spacious, open way,

we are passageways for others

who seek a bright, new day.

Margery Layton

8-97

(for Mariel)

Glow

2009-02-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

From the cold and barren wastelands
windswept, empty and lifeless,
comes the finest light --
first flickering,
then glowing with steady resolve,
growing with intensity
until
opening up the warm-lit ways
where love and peace prevail.
Margery Layton
2006

A Child

2009-01-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

A child is a candle for faith --
a light for the darkness of adult doubts.

A child is a song --
a never-ending note of hope and life.

A child is a painting --
a multicolored affirmation of moving beauty.

A child is a dance --
a natural rhythm of life and growth.

A child is a story --
a once-upon-a-time reminding us
that we were all children once, and an open-ended ending
reminding us that tomorrow is a challenge, not a fear.

A child is life --
its loves and hates, its happiness and sorrows,
its courage and cowardice, its softness, its roughness,
its chaos and calm, its noise and silence,
its faith and terrors, its joy of being
that is sufficient in and of itself.

A child is a search --
a never-ending, vigorous exploration for new,
better, more open routes
to replace the deaths of a tired past.

A child is a gift --
a present of naturalness and truth.

Margery Layton
(in the 60;s)

Heart Homes

2008-12-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

You visit in the home of my heart

and I in your's.

Friends sharing cups of liquid love,

plates of quiet warmth

and napkins of true knowing.

Remembrance softens and glistens

with present vibrancy,

as past and nows breathe future pathways,

woven through our friendships

with golden threads and light-strewn crystals

shining through the dark.

Margery Layton

1989

(Dedicated with love, light and music to all the children)

A Tree That Grows Like Me

2008-11-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Now all the colored leaves

have left the changing -kind trees.

Each branch is bare,

but I know where

to find a tree that stays.

It is green, it smells so clean.

It tickles and prickles so new.

It's called evergreen.

Come see what I mean.

I know you'll like it, too!

I'll show you how it stands.

Stretch tall and lift your hands.

It grows like this and blows a kiss

when wind blows through its green.

It will be our special tree,

a present for me and for you.

It's called evergreen.

Come see what I mean.

It's straight and clean and true!

Words and music by Margery Layton

Sparkles

2008-10-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

We are each a special star,

just like each of you all are.

We are each important

in our special ways.

We shine bright,

we shine free,

special people, you and me.

We are each a learner and

we are each a teacher, too.

We have fun exploring ways

to keep on shining bright and true.

Words and music by Margery Layton

A Flower

2008-09-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

A color,

A smell,

A growing up,

A stretching out,

A blowing by the wind,

A standing still,

A being shined on,

A being rained on,

A being mooned on,

A being there in the ground,

A saying "no" to the weeds,

A staying a flower!

Margery Layton
1973

Music Lesson

2008-08-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

Fill your hearts with music,
join the world of love.
Sing the songs of happiness,
rising with the dove.

Play the harps of wonder
in the silent nights.
Shine the stars from deep inside
up to the glorious heights.

Listen to the sounds of peace,
finding fresh ways through.
While honoring the older truths,
combining them with the new.

Sparkle all the pathways,
softening them with care,
tossing up the signs of hope,
here and everywhere.

Rest on solid bonds of trust;
move with notes of grace,
Birthing beauty timelessly
in its eternal place.

12/05

Songs of Grace

2008-07-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

Singing softly through the night,
by the glow of candlelight.

Spreading beams from near and far,
just because of who we are.

As we move in time and space,
we are filled with newborn grace.

Stars of hope still shine our way,
through the night and newborn day.

Margery Layton
12-2011

Hide and Seek

2008-07-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

When we hide and do not seek

we lose the ways there are to speak

to loving hearts and spacious minds

that sing the songs of humankinds.

Margery Layton

1991

Simplicity

2008-06-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

The simple songs and easy rhymes

help us through the troubled times.

Living truths that never cease

are hearts of hope

and ways of peace.

Wonders bright and star-kissed eyes

are the searchers' secret prize.

New ways unfold while old ones guide

with warmth and wisdom

wrapped in pride.

As they meet and blend as one,

they know that they have found the sun.

Margery Layton

2002

Spelling Be (Texting with Mariel)

2008-05-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

Texting is perplexing

and vexing

to a good speller like me.

R U there 2 lisin 2 me?

I try 2 reverse

and my spilling gits worse

sew does that meen

my text needs a nurse?

I try 2 fit in,

and dew like 2 win

whatever the knew games may bee.

Sew I just buzz a round

until eye am found

encircling the dead texting tree.

Eye won’t give up,though,

will go 2 and frow,

until eye kan outwit the game.

My good spelling will last

and come back pretty fast

while the meanings remain just the same.

Margery Layton

1-2010

A Mist Story

2008-03-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

Butterfly,

waving by,

wings a daytime lullaby.

Leaves a note of colored air

floating in the empty space just there.

Oxygen of beauty breath

soaring out of cocooned death,

giving promises of now--

being what it is and why and how.

Butterflies,

buttercups,

flying fuzz and smooth sups.

If wings took root and roots took wing,

the wings would grow and roots would sing!

Margery Layton

(in the 60's)

Beauty Spots

2008-03-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

Beauty spots are where our hearts decide they are
in places felt and seen within each fine lit star.

Margery Layton
in the 80's

Natural Beauty Parlor

2008-03-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

Natural Beauty Parlor

When you see the thorns

you miss the rose

and

when you see the rose

you miss the thorns.

Margery Layton

1970

Marigold

2008-02-01T16:12:00.000-08:00

Marigold

A single strand of marigold

weaves its own uniqueness

in living, light-strewn ways.

Separate strands of varied hues

begin to weave their own.

Soon they meet in centeredness

around their rings of truth,

weaving, interweaving songs of light

with notes of hope

that shine upon the whole.

Patterning that beauty knows

and hearts can feel

goes on beyond the stars.

Margery Layton

1991

Joy Lights

2008-01-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

As the sun began to tuck itself in
behind the mountains,
it sent out sparkles of joy light reminders
on its way.

A single ray beamed strongly forward,
a glistening image of two shimmering,
softly greened butterflies,
sharply outlined in red.

They paused separately for a soft, sure
moment in time and space
before uniting,
then blending with sun and sky
as one sure whole.

Margery Layton
1-90

Coppia

2008-01-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

Only beauty knows what beauty seeks
and
beauty seeks what beauty knows.

Margery Layton
(in the 70's)

Heartways

2008-01-24T08:18:00.000-08:00

Beauty spots are where our hearts decide they are
in places felt and seen within each fine lit star.

Treasuring Treasures

2008-01-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

Treasure your own treasures,
both inside and out.
Stir them up gently
and toss them about.

Put them to good use
with freedom and fun.
Live them with laughter
and songs from the sun.

Margery Layton
3-2010

Home Sweet Home

2008-01-01T08:17:00.000-08:00

Beauty, love and light are where

no one else can travel there.

Only ones who've been there know

the everlasting inner glow.

When all else crumbles, fades away

and nothing ever seems to stay

The simple truth of who we are

shines the light of our own star.

1991

Faith Leapers

2007-12-29T17:22:00.000-08:00

Faith leaps

while doubts crawl and creep.

Faith shines in and out into the world

while doubts cloud, disguise, hide and skulk in the

shadows.

Faith is courage seeking the unknown,

transforming it into the known

while doubts hide from both.

What the unknown knows

is always waiting to be revealed,

with new openings,

fresh pathways

and

discoveries on beyond.

Margery Layton

8-2008

Tranquility

2007-12-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

Rocked gently in the universal crib of love and light
two stars come shining through,
softening the darkness with their warm and gentle glow,
heart knowing the way unseen to tranquil shores
and songs of life.

Everflowing streams of time carry lifeboats
past the stormy seas to newfound treasure spots
where faith endures and moves.

Margery Layton
1995

Rays

2007-11-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

A single ray cuts through a cloud,

soon followed by other rays,

slicing through the illusions

and delusions while

replacing them with the light of truth

and the truth of light.

They combine to open up visions,

yet unseen and faintly heard

but firmly known

within the heartland

where kindness reigns,

and

truth and honor live, grow and flourish.

Margery Layton

9-07

Our Sun Song

2007-10-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

I see the sun shining bold in the sky.
I see the light waving gold, curving high.
Sun people wing to my house every day.
They carry sun bells for their friends to play.

I like to curl in a circle of sun.
I like to whirl in a sunbeam of fun.
Sometimes a cloud covers up my best friend.
But I know sunshine comes back in the end.

Words and Music by Margery Layton, Copyright 1966

Be a Sunflower

2007-10-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

Be a Sunflower,
Standing tall,
Shining forth,
Letting the sun kiss
your inner warmth.

Be a sunflower,
Reaching high,
Glowing through,
Letting happiness
shine on you.

Be a sunflower,
Staying strong,
Rich with pride,
Letting happiness
be your guide.

Margery Layton
Spring, 2002
(for Mariel)

Play Ball

2007-10-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

God gave us each a ball of sun
to toss around and have some fun.
Rolling, bowling balls of care
keep on moving everywhere.

Sparkles dancing on the snow,
inviting us to join their show,
bringing our own sparkles, too,
while lighting ways that see us through.

Dancing in the golden rays,
finding new and brighter ways,
reaching upward, far beyond,
sharing care our strongest bond.

When we share our balls of sun,
circling them to everyone,
some drop those balls while others hold
their secrets, letting them unfold.

Playing freely, holding true,
lightens me and blesses you.
I'll hold your ball while you hold mine,
sending out our mutual shine.

Margery Layton
3-2003

Shines

2007-10-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

Shining brightly,
Shining through,
Shining lightly,
Shining true.

Margery Layton
3-2010

Healers

2007-10-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

Healers

Pill dispensers automate,
mechanize and obfuscate,
overriding human needs
with tinny terms in place of deeds.

True healers are the ones who know
the bright-lit ways to go and glow.
Giving, living every day
they shine with every golden ray.

Wonderment and rainbow skies
are the healers' highest prize.
They well know their deeds will last
far beyond the ones who cast
clouds of doubt on every light
and winds of fear on quiet night.

Healers choose the sun-kissed shores,
the gentle rain-tinged open doors.
Their free ways go beyond the norm
while lightly clad in their own form.

Feathered thoughts fill open minds,
accompanying their human kinds,
while sound-lit tunes and fine-spun songs
replace the wounds and right the wrongs.

Margery Layton
4-98

The Colors of Life

2007-10-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

The colors of life
bring new meaning to hope
and hope to new meanings.

Look up and those colors
will envelop and lead you
safely and surely on.

Margery Layton
2/2010

Yoga with Ned

2007-10-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

A ribbon of joy in beams of light,
cascading through the darkest night.
A breathing space in softened air,
a winding hope on wings of care.

A searching guide comes beaming through,
combining old with sparkling new.
Embracing all while missing none,
weaving through with light spun fun.

Happiness and peace-filled pride
doesn't need to run and hide.
Magic reigns and fills the air
with every heart fulfilled in prayer.

Following the heartline's pace
we move freely in that space,
knowing that this way can find
the spirit in both heart and mind.

Margery Layton
12-2001

Truth

2007-10-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Truth rides in on shining steed,
as it fulfills our every need,
sparkling up its shining trail,
and showing us its windswept tale.

Wind-up toys dissolve in dust,
or sometimes just sit there and rust;
mechanics just play back, repeat,
but know when they cannot compete.

Truth sweeps in with full array,
through clouds and darkness to its day,
where brightness rules and reigns at last
in colorful abundance from the past.

Ruling wisely, ruling well,
rings the freedom of truth's bell,
singing loudly, singing clear,
playing far and praying near.

Time and truth ride high and far,
reaching out to touch each star.
With cleansing swoop and glistening sail,
they clearly,with no doubt, prevail.

Margery Layton
6-97

Crystal Palace

2007-10-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

There is a golden place
where love and honor dwell.
Abundancy of room and space
is home for freedom's bell.

All who enter here must know
the ways of truth and light,
softly stepping, gently moving,
clothed in crystal bright.

Margery Layton
8-97

Frozen Fantasy

2007-10-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

A castle made of ice
towers on a hill.
Its slippery, glassy, frozen path
untraveled, always still.

Solidly it freezes all
who try to come inside,
powering above them all
with icicles of pride.

It shuts out all the caring rays,
frost bites them, stings them, too.
Warmth of wisdom's left behind,
along with all that's true.

A cozy cottage sits below,
snow-covered and serene.
Its warmth invites its guests to thaw
and know that she's their queen.

Margery Layton
11-97

Feathering

2007-10-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Feathered thoughts of every kind
are mindful heart
and heartful mind.

Margery Layton
8-98

Singing Wings

2007-10-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

Feathered thoughts
and singing wings
open up the best of things.

Margery Layton
1-2010

Natural Heart and Spirit of Time

2007-10-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

The Natural Heart and Spirit of Time

The sun of today shines up past remains
with the light of tomorrow’s.
The moon of yesterday softens the glare of harsh today's.

The earth cradles our time
and rocks the mechanical clocks to sleep
with the song of its own endurance.

The clouds cover the mystery of time
and rain the jagged, aging reminders into softness.

The winds of change swirl up the egg of time
with their invisible arms
and deposit it safely into the future.

The river of time is a winding thread
leading the past to today's and tomorrow’s.

The sea sings of the mystery of time
and hides its secrets within her depths.

The grave of the past
is the womb of the unborn future.

The dust of past remains
becomes the seed for new life.

The corpse of yesterday
is the embryo of tomorrow.
The shroud of the corpse is the swaddling clothes of rebirth.

The candle of faith lights the possibilities
of a multicolored future.

The everlasting music of time
plays the rhythms of timelessness,
sings the beauty of its own essence
and expresses the tangibility of its intangibility.

The natural heart and spirit of time
beckons us to chart the unmapped ocean of the future.

Timelessness flows freely and surely on its own true course.

Margery Layton
(in the 60’s)

Natural Travelers

2007-10-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

The ground we walk holds how we feel
and pulsates with each friendly step.

The sky that covers where we go
lightly blankets why we're there.

Moons and suns that follow us
play around our inner glows.

Darkness shelters deeper dreams;
lightness sings the way.

Margery Layton
1972

Builders

2007-10-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

A soft-knit nest is where we live
and where we like to be.

The tree form is irrelevant.
A tree is still a tree.
But we are we and us and them
whatever forms there are.

Our usness is our essence
and our hopes a close-knit star.

Margery Layton
1994

Web

2007-09-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

I spin upon the web of life
in colors strong and bold,
weaving stories as I go
in ways both new and old.

Some other webs entangle,
but mine is clean and straight.
Come join me in this fresh, clear way
and know that you are great!

Margery Layton
(for Mariel)
8-97

Poem Struck

2007-09-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Thunder rolls and lightning strikes
on placid ponds and quiet hikes,
rumbling, bumbling , rippling then
just circling back to strike again.

Poem strikes come from ..who knows where?
From Mother Earth or in the air?
They find pure gold and bring it through
to hearted places
softly new
(oldly, too)
and always true.

Margery Layton
6-98

A Tree

2007-09-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

A growing, sturdy pushing up,
A spreading, branching, moving out,
A swinging, searching for the wind,
A standing for the sun and rain.

A giving, shading, shelter place,
A fruitful, kindly, quiet store,
A waiting, hiding treasure cave,
A trunk of brown and solid dreams.

Margery Layton
1973

A Flower

2007-09-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

A color,
A smell,
A growing up,
A stretching out,
A blowing by the wind,
A standing still,
A being shined on,
A being rained on,
A being mooned on,
A being there in the ground,
A saying "no" to the weeds,
A staying a flower!

Margery Layton
1973

The Spring of New Beginnings

2007-09-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

In the spring of new beginnings,
the freshness comes again,
reminding us that nature's cold
is cover for its warmth,
protecting us from harm.

The seeds of new beginnings
always find their way
through the darkness of the earth
to the sunshine of their day.

Margery Layton
1987

(See also Softly Spring under Odes)

Green

2007-09-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

A cool, green thought
came to light upon
a single leaf,
placed in a jar
where it will continue
to grow and spread
with fresh resolve,
new found ways,
and songs of life and love.
Margery Layton
1987

Gold

2007-09-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

Fun filled times and joy spun days
are music for the brighter ways.
Bubbling laughter streams the fun
to green-cooled spots and lemon sun.

Playing in a circled time
radiates the tone and rhyme
for friendly words and happy songs
where spiced-tuned, vital life belongs.

Margery Layton
6-98

Song in Lime

2007-09-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

A cooling breeze lightly touched
the lime-green wings of a passing bird,
sending it on to feather-stroke ones who know its song,
then fanning them with whiffs of kindly thoughts
and nesting them in shadowed coverlets
as sun gold reigns supreme.

Margery Layton
7-99

See Saw

2007-09-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

In the sea of what I see
all I see belongs to me.
On the shore of what I share
all I share is happy there.

In the sky of what I know
brighter, stronger visions grow.
In the heart of everything
universal spirits sing.

Margery Layton
1988

One Leaf

2007-09-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

One leaf fell slowly
like an autumned afterthought
into my lap,
wanting to be felt and heard
until the gentle wind took it once again
to nest beneath the tree.

Then lifting it once again,
colors glistening,
to taste the blueness of the sky
to the silent whisper
of my accompaniment.

Margery Layton
1987

Fall Light

2007-09-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

Orange gold and glimmered treasures,
leaves in soft array,
scattered through the sturdy greens
of trees that stand and stay.

Margery Layton
(in the 80's)

Snow Thoughts

2007-09-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

The soft silence breathes its way through the snow,
its feathered softness giving pause to thought..
and wings for belief.

Moving through the silence..
a softened glow of hope lights its own way through,
whispering a grace note in its passage.

Snow Spring

2007-09-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Softly springing in the snow
blends belief with what we know.
The truth inside, with warmth and light,
flows gently out
into the night.

The way to walk upon the snow,
is lightly, footprints fading as we go.
Ploughing deeply,
sliding, too,
is not the way that gets us through.

Each flake that softens Mother Earth
gives each of us a second birth.
Wonders find us as we rest
inside that snow-filled earthly nest.

Margery Layton
12-2002

Lost and Found

2007-09-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Lost and Found

If I get lost and turned around,
just turn me in to Lost and Found.

Giving me directions just won’t do
since I’ll probably just end back with you.

I unfold a great, big map
and spread it out upon my lap.

But then I find the print so small
it doesn’t help me after all.

So I’ll just stay with Lost and Found
until they get me Homeward Bound.

Perhaps they’ll give me tasty food,
(that is if I’m in the mood.)

I may even take a nap
(if it doesn’t cause a flap).

I imagine , though, they’ll take me home,
reminding me I’d best not roam.

So if you get lost and turned around,
come visit me at Lost and Found.

Since you know me and I know you,
we’re already found. That’s true!

Margery Layton
1-2010

House Party

2007-09-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

Here I am
at home with me,
a peaceful, friendly place to be.

I hope this finds you
home with you,
so you'll know these words are true.

Peace

2007-09-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

May peace ring through your heart,
soar through your mind,
permeate your spirit,
comfort your soul,
live in your life,
and
be one with the Universe.

Margery Layton
(in the 60's)

Light Wish

2007-08-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

May the light of peace
and the peace of light
shine surely and strongly
through and true
for each and all of you.

Margery Layton
12-2002

Openings

2007-08-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Peace enters softly,
carried in by the gentle breath of a first spring breeze.
Peace whispers its own name in the midst of
snowflake leftovers that stop by to chat awhile,
leaving their feathered thoughts behind
to blend with spring glistenings.
Peace watches ants busied with the gathering of
crumblings from systems long decayed
and powers futilized.
Peace hears the bubblings of real joy
entering the living stream, then waterfalling
through the channels of despair and
tears squeezed out of pain.
Peace knows
prepares
and waits for the eyes and ears of hearts
tuned to wonder and beauty where it all
begins
and ends
and begins again.

Margery Layton
2000

Whispers of Peace

2007-08-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

When whispers of peace come to us
under starless skies or from ways unknown
except through heartlines,
we must stop, listen and breathe in
the blissfulness of the silences.

Notes unheard and birds unflown
then emerge in new songs and fresh flights,
easing the ways and
softening the days.

Listen, know and
move above the warring ways
into realms where
peace prevails
and all is well.

Humankinds

2007-08-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

Love in hearts
and
peace in minds
bring light and hope for humankinds.

Margery Layton
1990

Morning Essence

2007-08-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

The essence of the morning is the waking of one's self,
the knowing that the someone in must be the someone out,
the peeling off the layers that bind and gag the soul,
the singing through the hazy ways and lighting paths with love.

The essence of the morning is the seeking in the heart,
the finding where to lead the way and where the way can lead,
the cutting through the underbrush and clearing out the weeds,
the basking in the steady shine and cooling with the breeze.

The essence of the morning is the flower in the soul,
the beauty spot that glows and knows where lightness touches song,
the fragrance of the freshness that dews upon the heart,
the dancing of the petals in brightly colored tones.

The essence of the morning is the freeing of the mind,
the wings that rest in quiet thought while camouflaged in beige,
the floating through the clearest blue serenely with elan,
the soaring to the highest reaches where the unknown knows.

Margery Layton
1987

Thanks and Giving

2007-08-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

With blending times
and onward moves,
singing hearts
and ways to choose.

With glowing minds
and feelings bright,
sun filled days
and moon filled nights.

With warmth and courage,
tried and true,
from the old
and freshly new.

Margery Layton
11-2011

Civility

2007-08-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

Civility

Civility returns quietly and surely,
moving softly through
the tangled webs of deception and greed
with strong and purposeful intent.

It calms the churning, muddy waters ,
replacing them with hope, grace and clarity.
Distortions float upon the surface,
their fragments then dissolving
into the nothingness that they are.

Civility is its own beinghood,
its own ruler
and its own way.

Margery Layton
2-2010

Freeways

2007-07-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

With dewing thoughts
and heartspun prayers,

mystic notes
and soft-heard aires.

With streams of gold
and loving sighs,

living beams
and sparkling eyes.

With knowing stars
and whispered ways,

moving toward
the brighter days.

Margery Layton
7-30-2011

Air Lift

2007-07-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

A light-spun blanket of care woven from past wisdoms
softly covers us as we move quietly on rainbow paths,
with covered bridges filled with warmth and light
connecting
interconnecting
and enveloping
civililties, hopes, visions and truths
that accompany us beyond the alphabets of confines
into the full freedom where spirits know, grow, shine and sparkle,
led and covered by 1000 cranes in full, deep flight.

Margery Layton
1998

Crane Magic

2007-07-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

True messages fly on wings of softness
to hearts of love and peace.

Margery Layton
(in the 80's)

Above

2007-07-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Bathe in light
and rainbow bright
and you will find the way
beyond the clouds,
above the fray
where peace will warm your night and day.

Margery Layton
2-2010

Morning Freshness

2007-07-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Sprinkling with the dewdrops,
rising with the sun,
moving with the music,with new/old times begun.

Margery Layton
9/4/10

Wild Free Bird

2007-07-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

a streak of flying freedom,
a high speck of life,
a being there
even when it's gone.

Margery Layton
1973

Dancing white morph

Streaming

2007-07-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

Wading in the living stream,
almost like a living dream.

Softly, surely coming through,
hearing voices that are true.

Moving gently through the storms,
lightly clad in one's own forms.

Knowing all the ways there are
in how to find one's own bright star.

Margery Layton
8-2010

Lime Aids

2007-07-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

Lime comes softly through the night,
gently stirring, tender bright.

Streams of knowing barely seen,
just a lovely flow of green.

Floating on into the day,
touching lightly on the way.

Sensing notes unheard before,
fresh new mysteries to explore.

Whispers touching hearts that know,
imprinting with a greening glow.

Margery Layton
8-2010

Worthy Note

2007-07-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

A bright and cheery note
escapes from all the snares,
goes beyond the traps
and
soars above the storms.

Margery Layton
9-2010

Sky Song

2007-07-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Moving past the angers,
waiting out the storms,
finding all the sheltered spots
where trust and honor warms.

Going through the motions,
while knowing all the while
that the deepest meanings
are in a friendly smile.

Finding all the sunbeams,
shining with the moon,
brightest diamonds in the sky,
singing our own tune.

Margery Layton
9-2010

Songs of Silence

2007-07-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

Songs of Silence give us rest
while singing in the deepest nest.

They hear the songs that know the ways
to deeper, fuller, light-strewn days.

Star-kissed notes and moon-beamed light
bring meaning to the darkest night.

Glowing ways and softened songs
freshen hope and right the wrongs.

Margery Layton
8-2010

Windows

2007-07-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Windows that are clean and bright
welcome in the soul filled light.

Sparkling with some unheard tunes,
dancing with the soft-lit moons.

Windows of the soul, we know,
shining with their softest glow.

Margery Layton
9-2010

Peace Finds

2007-07-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

When peace reigns,
hearts glow
and nature's flow
find the openings
and show the ways
to brighter, fuller, fairer days.

When wings find
the peace of mind
that comes to know the humankind,
feathered thoughts float gently through,
giving space to all that's true.

Margery Layton
9-2010