A meditative calm is settling on me this morning as I think about the week ahead and all of the things that fill my life with thanks-worthy graces, so I shall sing you a lullaby to try to put you in a similar frame of mind. (Please make the tune as sweet and pretty as it suits you to hear!)
Lullaby Ten Thousand
Lie asleep, my languid love, with muses ’round your bed
To whisper dreaming in your ear, lay garlands on your head,
To kiss your cheek with zephyr lips, your heart fill up with peace,
And when the daybreak comes again, sing gently your release
From nighttime and its starry net, to draw you up, away
Into ten thousand leagues of joy, renewed, into the day
Art-Colored Glasses 
This is beautiful.
the nature images, and the words, they form an amazing imagery.
š
Thank you very much. I’m a big fan of lullabies in general, and was in the mood for pictures that had that same gentleness and innocence.
Thank you for this beautiful poem. It will start my day!
Glenda
I think I was in a particular mood for starting off in a ‘zen zone’ since R is back in church musician mode and it requires 12-14 hour Sundays for now. š I am very happy you enjoy it, dear Glenda!
Meditative calm sounds excellent. Thanks you for the poem.
Just an attempt to wedge a little much-needed breathing space into the usual busy week, perhaps, but I’m pleased you like it. š
The butterfly is amazing! Beautiful poem, too.
Yes, isn’t that a lovely butterfly! A variety I’d not seen before, and it generously posed for me for nearly a minute, I think. Remembering that kind of helps put me in the mood for the poem, come to think of it. I’m delighted you enjoyed them both.
The peaceful photography is the perfect side to this beautiful lullaby. I find that I am looking forward to a new post from you each day. Thank you so much for sharing yourself with us.
You are ever so sweet, my dear. I feel just the same about seeing each of your lovely posts, knowing I’ll see fabulous images and learn scintillating poems that I didn’t know before or be reinvigorated with new insights into familiar texts because of the marvelous pairings you make with the visual images. Many thanks to you, too. š
(other than your blog,) kathryn. What do you write? You must be in print somewhere.. you surely must.. c
Dearest, what you see is what you get! I do have about six or seven thousand poems (stopped even estimating at some point) and a couple thousand composed pages of poetry/image books (on things like nature, food, invented alien creatures and wacky beasts, and the lighter side of death, for example) sitting around in storage, but the publishers I’ve sent them to thus far haven’t been remotely interested. I put it all on a back burner and started re-editing a bunch of my artworks for possible giclee/digital printing as posters and stretched canvases so I might be able to sell prints. Then I was getting hung up on how to show, sell, market, etc. So Richard, a very fine and brilliant man despite his silliness in marrying me, started nudging me to blog.
And while I realize this might be TMI for your innocent little inquiry, that, in a nutshell, is what’s what.
You made me very happy by asking, though. Sweet C!
Ah, Kathryn, thank you so much. A lullabye indeed comes to me at the end (or beginning) of a busy week. Peace restores the soul, and you have brought a soft, gentle breeze of peace with your words and images. That first image just invites quiet meditation. š
Peace and happiness to you, dear Ted!
Beautiful… both the pictures and the words. I love anything with a lullabye. š
Thank you kindly, dear Pamela–somehow it doesn’t surprise me at all, after a quick trip to your blog, that you’d be a lullaby aficionado too! I’m looking forward to a much more lingering visit or a thousand to your site, but that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Hitting bedtime after a long day hereabouts! VERY glad Desi ‘introduced’ us so I can get to know your work! Cheers,
Kathryn
After reading that I feel calm as if I wanna sleep now š
Sleep well! Sometimes it’s a COMPLIMENT when people tell me my writing puts them to sleep!! š
Thank you Kathryn for sharing the pictures and the words..it feels good to stop and enjoy the simple things like a lullaby or a beautiful butterfly.. life is just too hectic and fast sometimes I feel we are not actually living it!
You’re right, it’s far too easy to ‘sleepwalk’ through our days if we’re distracted! I’m glad you enjoyed this little “virtual vacation”!
What a beautiful post and such exquisite photos! Thank you so much.
The one thing lacking here is a good bedtime snack–with what treat would the finest Italian family be tucking in for the evening?? š I’m glad you enjoyed this one.
So beautiful, so beautiful. My soul captured by your poetical words and also by your photographs… Thank you dear Kathryn, with my love, nia
Bless you, dear Nia, I’m pleased you enjoyed the post!
xoxo,
Kathryn
Perfect.
Many thanks, dear lady.
I love the photos! Thanks!
Very glad you enjoy! š
An absolutely excellent poem! It’s difficult to pick out one part above the other, but I did especially like release from nighttime and its starry net.
Thank you, Dennis, I always deeply appreciate your comments and support!
Lovely shot of the butterfly!
Thank you, Eden, it was a very polite model for me, something I don’t often see in butterflies!
You show your versatility as a poet with this one Kathryn, I really like it.
So pleased that you enjoy it, Dennis!
Thank you for the lullaby
Especially the butterfly
I’m wondering if indeed
Her wings are truly emerald green
Whether painted portrait or camera hue
Your artistic touch shines brightly through…
Ohh, thank you for a delightful poem, Lindy Lee! And although I will readily admit I’ve tweaked photos for fun many a time, this butterfly was precisely that fabulous color all on its own. How glorious, no?
Perfect! The last thing I read before I go off to the sack. I will watch beautiful butterflies as I slip off to sleep. Nighty night. xoxo
Hope you slept like a baby!
š
The butterfly picture shows contrast in many different ways. The color is obvious but one doesn’t see the contrast in form and structure often. The delicate living creature on the black hardness of the surface (rock?).
Thanks for your insights, Mr. Das! The butterfly was resting on a walkway, one I’m fairly certain was concrete but was doctored to look quite stone-like. To see a really beautiful example of the kind of contrast you mention, you can’t do better than your brother’s shot of the Arch (http://thedasslereffect.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/wood-and-steel-gateway-arch-at-night-st-louis/)!
Thank you for coming by here and commenting!
Kathryn