Be

Sometimes the only place,

the only way,

the only choice, you see,

is 

    just 

        to 

            BE.

Be here, where distant dreams

are barely visible,

I am. 

That's it.

Present and content

within the skin that drapes my bones

and seems to sag more when

I'm all alone 

but doesn't.

Here.

A drink of water

bite to eat,

a post to like,

just tackling life 

a second 

at a time.

Here.

Sometimes it's all that I can do.

But all that I can manage

in the moment

is enough.

(c) Ellen Gillette, 2025

The Vicarious Nature of Good Books

 The day I started crying as I drove,

Conor Larkin
is the protagonist :)

There was no reason. Then it hit me.

I cried for Conor Larkin.

A character. The hero of the book

I finished just the other night.

Another time I had to set the hefty

Mitchell tome aside when Scarlett's

Selfishness seeped into my own words.

With mindfulness you can observe (or read?)

Without profound effect but

When the author pulls me in, until

The story isn't on the page but in

My very cells, how can my heart not pound

As I await the verdict at the trial?

 (c) Ellen Gillette, 2022

Investment

Mindful of my money I am careful,

aware that someone's time and sweat

invested in this object in my hand.

Can I part with what it costs?

This vase that someone threw away,

donated, maybe sold for pennies

now becomes my rescue,

treasured, perfect in my eyes,

a memory of happy days spent

finding thrift store bargains.

As Easter beckons I'm reminded

that in many ways, I'm like this vase.

Used and fragile, holding nourishment

(somewhat) for those I love,

worth nothing to the masses,

slightly more to just a few,

but strangely wonderful,

I'm counted worthy of the Cross

we'll celebrate next week.

Held in God's hand, he looked beyond

the cast-off surface to the

joy he knew could grow within,

revealing so much more about

the one who paid the price

than it could ever say of me.

(2022) Ellen Gillette