Into the Color...

Photograph       ©Maleko 2012       (Edited using PicMonkey)

“What lies beyond, into the color?”

The Face?

During an evening walk with my daughter I was taking pictures of the sunset in a forest in Western Washington.  Upon returning home and editing the pictures for uploading I noticed something peculiar.  The sun appears to be perched on the top of the wooden stump but just to the lower left of the sun there appears to be a face peering out from in the leaves of the trees? 

The first picture is the original with no editing except for a drop shadow border.  

This picture below highlights the area where the face seems to appear with the rest of the surrounding area blurred out.

  What do you think?  Was something staring at us from the forest?

Photo editing done using PicMonkey

Never Give Up

Photograph    Maleko ©2012

Consequences

Listening for God

A photo of a bonfire we in our backyard burning our slash pile.  As I was listening to the sounds of the fire the crackling and popping as the wood burned, made me think about the trees when they burn and if we listen close enough would we be able to hear them scream in agony as the fire claims their green living branches?  So often we never stop, never quiet ourselves and the world around us, long enough to truly listen and to hear, especially for the voice of God as He speaks to our hearts.  ~M

Sins Repeated

Believing the whispered lies as hearts spiral down ~ the sweet poison ~ penalties for sins repeated ~ on wings love rises from the ashes ~ light breaks darkness ~ forgiveness for the sins repeated

Lives lie still in disarray

"Stillness"

"Glory Rising"

Hopes lie quiet in turmoil  

Grace fills hearts in pain

Mercy fills souls in need

Passion is ignited in flame 

Love is forged in fire

As my heart beats

Worlds collide at dawn

Eclipsing the dark horizon

Forged in eternal fires

Brilliant rays of light

Reaching arms to hold

Wounded hearts of man

Maleko ©2012

                                                                       

                                                             

 

Memories Of Eternity

'Christmas Morning'  (Photograph Bellingham, WA)

© Maleko 2011

A journey's new start

Moments slip past

A quickening of the heart

Loves rains down

A distant star

Falls to the ground

Sparks illuminate the night

And eternity beckons

Shines loves pure light

Resting...

   "Tree of Light"    

Maleko ©2011

I am His desire

I am His beloved

I am His child

Even in the darkest night

I am His joy

I am His passion

I am His child

Even as the storm rages

So..... why....

Do I feel anxious?

Do I feel alone?

Do I feel abandoned?

Be still and rest for

the Lord is good to you

Like new fallen snow 
covered by grace and love

Blood Stains

After swallowing the last gulps, he set down the empty can on the corner of the coffee table.  The hoped for solace that drink normally brought seemed to evade him on this night and exhaustion remained, yet sleep seemed to reside only on some far distant shore.  The silent darkness of the house that used to be a home only served to allow the persistent voices in his head to scream louder, eventually driving him out the front door and into the night.  How long he stood next to the tree, barefoot in the grass, he had no idea. The other houses that lined both sides of the street were dark and all the world seemed to be asleep in peace.  All was quiet except the low hum of electricity as it traveled through the wires to feed the glowing street lights.

His right hand was leaning on the knob end of a baseball bat as if an old man in need of a cane.  The thought of why had he carried this outside flashed through his mind and was just as quickly gone.  It was the very bat she had placed beside the front door in case she should ever have a need of a weapon close at hand.  He grabbed the handle with both hands, he had always enjoyed the feel of a wooden bat in his hands and the weight just felt right.  His grip fit perfectly as his fingers curled around the handle.  Holding the bat filled him with a dangerous sense of strength and power.

He could feel his heart beating louder and louder in his ears, his blood coursing through his veins as surges of energy careened through his body as his muscles began to tense.  The world around him slowly faded away from view and before him stood only the tree.  The round trunk stretched upwards anchored by firm roots hidden deeply within the ground.  Branches grew outwards in what appeared to be many haphazard directions, most branches alive with leaves, a few dead and dry.  The tree was life, a voluminous text telling a story and detailing each experience and dream along the way, each branch a turning point in his life.  The leaves held tight the emotions that accompanied the events of each memory that was remembered.  The lifeless branches revealed little as the memories of these experiences had faded from his mind over the years.  As he stared up into the tree's canopy each branch morphed into distinct memories of a life built on hope for the future and then wholly lost as fate seemed to conspire against the desires of his heart.

The frozen silence of the night was shattered by a loud crack as the wooden bat struck the tree trunk.  He did not even realize that he had swung the bat, but as each memory blazed before his eyes he swung the bat over and over. The tree quivered only slightly with each blow, standing strong and resilient against the vicious onslaught.  Each swing was fueled by grief and rage over what was lost, never to return.  Memories flashed hot, the bat hurtled through the air against wood again and again, until his shoulders began to ache.  The quiet was shattered by the crack of wood on wood as the bat slowly began to splinter from the force of the repeated blows against the tree.  He continued unrelenting as the fury rose inside him like a volcanic eruption long held in check within the depths of the earth, driving him past the limits of exhaustion.

The cascade of blows finally began to slow as his strength waned, at last he stood gasping for breath, head down, the bat lying motionless in the grass at the bottom of the trunk.  The tree was silent before him almost mocking his unsuccessful and feeble efforts at destruction.  He eventually fell to his knees and finally came to a sitting position with his back against the very trunk that had noiselessly absorbed blow after blow of his merciless rage and anguish driven attack.  He sat soundlessly through the remainder of the night, his body physically shattered; the fatigue blunted the pain and allowed his mind a small respite from the chorus of voices in his head.   

The sun began to rise, and light crawled out of the dark of the night revealing the dawn of a new day.  He sighed and moved every so slightly as his shoulders throbbed, his hands and fingers stiff and aching, but his mind and heart laid bare to the nonsense questions to which there were no answers.  As the mornings light grew ever brighter unhindered by his sorrow, he looked down at his hands which were stained in a murky crimson of his own dried blood.  As he stared at the sight, angels whispered about innocent blood that was shed once, in the ultimate sacrifice long ago, so the crushed hopes of this world may be redeemed and reborn in eternity and a small smile crossed his lips as he raised his face to the warm glory of the rising sun.

~Maleko (October 2011)

3 Months of 2011- Choices Remain

Life in its Simplicity is Still Simply a Choice!

Roads we tread

"A Dangerous Path!"    Copyright MalekoArts 2011

Decisions we dread

Lies we tell

Glimpses of hell

Rivers we cross

Dreams we've lost

Mountains we climb

Those left behind

 

Paths we take

Choices we make 

A destination found

Simply heaven bound

The above photograph was taken on January 2, 2011 in the mountains where I frequently go to ride my mountain bike 

and to lose myself.  The bible tells us Jesus often went into the wilderness to pray and I find myself doing 

the same thing. I find that ideas for me are often birthed in the solitude and simplicity of nature.   ~Maleko

Update - Originally posted in January of 2011, one of my goals for the new year was to live my live deliberately and to be conscious of every choice.  Knowing that every choice for one thing means a choice against something else and nothing is left unchanged.   After three months, this simple fact remains unchanged and has borne itself out both positively and negatively in my life.  I encourage everyone to live your life on purpose, engage and always choose for the good against evil but and not allow the fear to rule our choices.  A reminder to all that you do have a choice and to choose life! ~Maleko  April 2011

would You...know it was me?

If I were a single tear that fell from the skies into the oceans deep, 

would You...know it was me?

If I were a single grain of sand laying upon an endless beach, 

would You...know it was me?

If I were a single shining star amidst the vastness of the milky way,

would You...know it was me?

If I were a single word unspoken within the minds of humankind, 

would You...know it was me?

"A Single Leaf"    Photograph    ©Maleko 2010