As I took a walk outside,
I noticed something that caught my eye.
Twisted in the grass, ingrained with dirt,
What I saw made my heart hurt.

Monarch's wings I had found,
Which gave me feelings so profound.
An intense sadness, helplessness, fear,
Overcame me as I beheld these artifacts dear.

In death or life, they must have been torn,
These beautiful wings that the creature bore.
I picked them up and held them close,
These wings that symbolized what I feared the most-

Losing myself, my biggest part,
The part of my soul that is dearest to my heart.
And what for my memories, good and bad?
What if I couldn't remember anything; wouldn't that be sad?

The monarch's wings sit still on my dresser,
A reminder of my constant stressor,
Yet also comforting me just the same,
As I pass through each day, feeling slightly more brave.

(A Psalm for Meditation: godly devotion and commitment.)

Lord, I live to worship you,
And breathe to sing your praise.

Daily, my soul arises in your presence
With eager longing and expectation.

Oh life-giving One, draw me
With your wondrous love
And sweet words of comfort.

Don't be far from me,
But take my feeble hand
As I reach out to you.
Come closer as I draw nearer to you,
Oh my God, that I may forever
Know your abiding presence.

I wonder if our money's worth
What we are doing to the Earth
But all that paper painted green
Is a pale spectre of a tree
The ones who gave us
Food and clothing
Shade and shelter
Hands and feet
We cut them, burn them wantonly
And fill the atmosphere with heat
And gas and dust and ash and smoke
Enough to make the creatures choke
There used to be a lot of them
The trees that gave us oxygen
Our tangled shuttles break the loom
Carbon born and carbon doomed
We'll find that trees are what we need
When we find money cannot breathe