In the wilderness, I build a fire for you. I call you softly by name: come, creep near, warm your hands, shelter in my arms. Like a fearful animal, afraid to trust but desperately cold with nowhere else to turn, you come. We huddle together against howling gusts. But without warning, a wind-whisper triggers memories just…Read more Elijah’s Birds
Author: Fragments of Light
Joy Comes in the Morning
Early in the morning, “joy” lingers at the door and howls longingly to come in. I can’t resist. I crack the door, and he slips through eagerly. I settle on my chair, and he nestles his silky head on my lap. His front paws creep up to join his head. He lifts his lanky back…Read more Joy Comes in the Morning
Art As Sacred Exchange
In the last ten days, hell-flames burned near; but hope-fire blazed ever more real. At times I felt trampled, like grass in a flood: soggy and mud clogged, bent under raging billows. Sometimes I felt like a tree surviving a winter storm, battered but proud, lifting weathered defiant arms in worship. Many times Elijah’s birds…Read more Art As Sacred Exchange
Courage Not My Own
Someone I dearly love is battling acute mental illness. I am scared, I am overwhelmed. My heart breaks for the one I love. I am trying to be brave. I turn to the One who knows, who keeps track: of my every tossing through the night, of every wandering of the one I love. I…Read more Courage Not My Own
Longing for Courage
On a silver Colorado day, white tree arms tease a dove grey sky and chill settles in my bones. I gaze out my window. Everything is blue, the color of cold. But, I am dreaming. In my mind I am far away: remembering a shoreline with scattered boats, whipped by wind, weathered by salt. On…Read more Longing for Courage
Blaze
A long time ago, I stumbled on a meandering meadow path. Vibrant wildflowers exploded, vibrating with hum of bees and butterfly flutter. The promise of joy lured me into the broad expanse. But within a few steps, dark clouds gathered and a mighty wind whipped grasses across my legs. Ominous thunder rumbled. Waves of…Read more Blaze
What Selling Artwork Means to Me
I slid the letter out of the envelope, with a check. My painting, Just to Touch the Hem, sold! I felt thrill of excitement to hold tangible reward for the work of my hands, but also a wash of sadness: a sliver of my heart, gone forever. Two of my pieces were accepted into the Regional…Read more What Selling Artwork Means to Me
Song of the Galahs
I walked the streets of my dusty, middle-of-nowhere town buried in the heart and heat of Australia. For a year and a half, Alice Springs cradled my adolescence. Her far-flung small town ethos taught me lessons to savor for a lifetime –concern for neighbor, freedom from pretense. Aboriginal songs in the surrounding buttes carved a…Read more Song of the Galahs
Colleen Briggs Images & Writing 