set the timepiece for 10:29pm…
on the dot its autumn.
half-light – half dark,
a balanced outlook of sorts…
12 hours daylight – 12 hours night

the celebration –
mother nature is sending
her first big fall storm.
subtle shift charges the air…
mare’s tails are enhanced in the setting sun.

I collected oak leaves to dry.
already they’ve turned a burnished bronze.
Maple trees have leaves with red edges.
Aspen leaves are golden…
evergreens are loaded with pine cones.

constellations are changing…
Orion will lord over the night sky.
celestial arrangement on my ceiling
will suffice once storm patterns settle
from mid-October to March.

thick clouds will obscure starlight;
downpour lullabies will be the norm.
hunkered down under quilt layers,
nights become shrouded dampness
lit by dimly glowing plastic stars.

*Growing up in rural Connecticut kept Ellen close to the earth and nature. As a visual artist and as an art instructor, she has over forty years of experience; her foray as a spoken word artist is more recent development.

While working as a children’s librarian in CT her interest in picture books grew and she attended many SCBWI conferences but sometimes life gets in the way… In 1998 she began taking writing classes with poet Kate Gleason in Keene New Hampshire. After moving to the Pacific Northwest, Ellen started painting sumi-e in 2002 with Fumiko Kimura and continued with morning pages and poetry keeping the stream of consciousness writing flowing.

“As an artist I am constantly involved with that process of transformation: spirit to image on paper: sumi-e, mixed media, collage, Precious Metal Clay to make jewelry and exploring other media are an outlet for my creativity. Writing appeals to Zen simplicity – paper, pencil and contemplation.”

Ellen’s art may be seen at The Gallery, Bainbridge Arts and Crafts on Bainbridge Island WA, Gallery Boom in Tumwater WA and exhibits regionally and nationally.