ART & POETRY BY PAUL T. & KATHY BOECHER©

Today might be a nice day for a drive or walk through a park. The sun is getting warmer and even a slight breeze would invigorate the soul. It seems we come closer to our Redeemer when we find ourselves in a natural setting. This painting was done plein air at Snail Lake Park. I’m assuming in the fall months. The grass is still green, but the leaves are turning. In the seasons of life, we go through many changes as well. Eventually we die, but there is the promise of new life after death. When we lose one we love, it seems like part of us goes back into the earth as well, but God tells us that we have a room waiting for us in heaven. I wonder if it will be surrounded by trees.

Trapped beneath the rugged surface,
A protrusion of gnarly bark and battered limbs,
Hidden within the depths of darkness,
A face sullied by nature,
Yet deeply entrenched with character,
Wrinkled and shriveled over time,
Scraggily,

Cragged,

Rutted,

Hellacious,

The years have overtaken,
A million voices it has heard,
The passage of time does not deter,
Still capturing rays of the sun,
Still suffering under gale force winds and driving rain,
Witness to all that sin has done to this world,

It weeps,

It bends,

It rebounds,

It lives again,

I wonder what stories it would tell,

If it could talk.