Live the Magic

When does time take over our thoughts? When do we stop collecting rocks, 

and playing with toys?

 When does making a scarecrow suddenly become something for farmers or children only?

 When do you stop climbing trees just because they are there 
or going to the petting zoo to see the baby animals?

When do rides become too expensive and too dangerous? When does fear take over?

 When does it happen that there is no time to go to the beach or explore the creatures of the earth?

 When do we stop making snow angels

 and dressing up for Halloween?

 When do we stop lying under the Christmas tree to stare up at the lights in wonder?

 When did we put away the board games

 and stop climbing to the highest peak?

When did we become afraid to embrace and honour mother ocean in all of her beauty,

 with all of the joy in our hearts?

When do we become afraid to take some calculated risks and live the magic?

Roll down some hills; squeal with joy. 

Pick an earthworm up off the sidewalk

and put it back in the grass.

Jump in some puddles. Get dirty. Get your hair wet.

Live.Love.Learn.

We are never to old to be joyful and open to experience.

Have fun.

-All text and images by: Gillian Cornwall, c. 2013.

Autumn Gold

 The University of Victoria

All photos c. Gillian Cornwall, 2012.

The emerald greens have faded

The trees turn out their gold

Summer earnings spent

bearing fruit

or shady dealings 

with strangers

The basswoods blush

to a flaming red

for soon they will stand bare

aquiver in the autumn wind

The morning holds a chill

a nudge of what's to come

Though fifty times I've seen the face of fall

surprise and awe in every one

-Gillian Cornwall, c.September, 2013.

Waves

 

Hulopo'e

G. Cornwall, c. December 2012

This is Not a Poem, It is a Series of Waves

I come to you with my self in my own hands 

like a clam shell.

I say, "Look, this is what I am."

and I open.

This is my language.

This is my culture.

This is my truth

in this moment.

This is my ability to speak with you

from my heart.

My fears,

my scars,

they are here too.

Touch them;

know this part of my terrain.

Read me like Braille

in your hands;

read the shapes I take.

Read my amorphous shapes.

Keep reading.

I am here.

I am changing.

I am able to be touched by you

and read again.

I am the story;

shifting like the dunes on the wind.

-Gillian Cornwall, 

c. 2008.

The Wave

Oil pastel on paper

c. Gillian Cornwall, 1988.

available for sale

Autumn Joys

Autumn on the Saanich Peninsula

G. Cornwall, c. October, 2012

Come my orange pumpkin,

my roly-poly treat,

come my red-flamed maple leaf,

rain-soaked upon my feet.

Fall fairs abound,

trips out of town,

prize cows and pigs

-fresh pies to eat!

Rubber boots and cozy sweaters,

nothing can be better

than a bushel basket full of apples

cold, crisp and freshly picked.

Think not ahead to winter

nor back upon the summer's heat;

be here within this moment,

upon this land replete.

-Gillian Cornwall, September 8, 2013.

 Saanich Apple

G. Cornwall, c. October 2012.

A Wet Autumn Day

G. Cornwall, c. October 2012.

Falling to the Top

Jump

Victoria, BC

Gillian Cornwall, c. June 2011

Falling to the Top

Here's to free spirit and charisma.

No, I don't believe it's sweeter

to wait 'til after work.

This is my open thermodynamic system

we're talking about.

It's science baby.

Ipso facto.

It's Latin.

I'm a Roman

from way back

and we knew

what the mind could do.

How beautiful,

the belief

in magic,

in art,

in science

and light.

We walk beyond the impossible,

explorers of life.

Go ahead;

free-fall,

for you never know

the heights

at which you may land;

you never know

where your mind

may take you.

-Gillian Cornwall, c. August 27, 2013.

Plumeria.

Lana'i, Hawaii.

Gillian Cornwall, c. December 2012.