i wake at four
to the scent of cinnamon.
it is too dark to know more than this, all tied up
in the dream of a friend.
someone i have not seen much in this past hurried year.
cinnamon and a promise emerge from these long winter nights as i seek the
comfort of those who visit in my dreams.
i lay in the stone quiet.
a solitary moon lays a faint milky entrance through the quiet windows.
only jackson stirs, purring as he burrows into the curve of my heart.
i have to rise and talk to the lightening stars;
throw off winters blankets and chart a course with the light.
every day a new year just beginning.
one thousand strands of yesterdays
wave like prayer flags at the promise of a new day.
cinnamon prayer beads
call someone you love and invite them into your kitchen
fill the air with the fragrance of friendship
1 cup powered cinnamon
1 tbsp. allspice
2 tbsp. cloves
1 tbsp. nutmeg
1 c. applesauce
1 tbsp. elmers glue
***
combine the first four ingredients and blend well.
stir in applesauce, elmers glue and mix again.
add more cinnamon until your mixture is easy to handle.
place some powered cinnamon on the palms of your hands and gather the dough into a ball.
as children this is when we would roll out the fragrant dough to shape with old tin cookie cutters.
this year the dough lingered in my hands warming and stirring my thoughts.
i pinched a small bit off and began rolling a small ginger coloured ball between my open palms.
suddenly it was as round and reminiscent as the old silver mexican beads i have
worn everyday for as long as i can remember.
and that's when it happened, the old became new. the cookie cutters sat in a beautiful tin heap
while i formed ginger coloured beads in the bright morning kitchen.
filled with the simple beauty of making a scented rosary wishing only
that it was not too early to call a friend.
***
forming the rosary beads
sit with a friend and let the stories fill the welcoming air.
roll small amounts into the size beads you desire.
pierce their centers with a
wooden skewer and turn the skewer to be sure the opening is well formed.
set your beads down on a flat even surface, perhaps a cookie sheet with edges to contain them,
to dry. reinsert the skewer mid day and again before bed,
(as they dry they tend to heal a bit and the opening must be well established)
it will take a few days for your beads to dry enough for stringing.
make a strand long enough to wear...
hang them close to your bed to pepper your dreams, tuck them in a drawer to scent your stockings,
or upon the bright shoulders of a watchful angel.
share them with your friends.
they are infused with love, the forming of your hands and the
memories only cinnamon, friendship, and a prayer
can hold forever.
