2-10-2025 4:31am

Allison Kelly Showcases Hearts in Nature

Lesley Misko Editor

by Allison Kelly*

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Love is in the air these days. Many have offered thoughts about this powerful emotion. This week, several of our readers share their thoughts in a series of guest essays.]

I fled to the woods from a world torn apart,

And there by the path I spotted a heart.

It was a tiny green leaf standing out from the crowd.

“That is amazing!” I uttered aloud.

Then I started to look, and I started to see

More hearts in nature all around me.

Most were just leaves on various plants

But special enough for a second glance.

Some were tattered and torn or withered and worn

But none of them – none of them – were worthy of scorn.

Love may be in the wind but it’s also in the air.

Are those heartstrings trailing from that trellis over there?

I see a glorious bower draped over the gate -

A wall of compassion to ward off hate.

The best was the heart-shaped hydrangea bloom

Certain to dispel any gloom and doom.

Can good still triumph if we all do our part?

Mother Nature advises: “Be brave and take heart!”

* Despite living almost her entire life with severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Allison has always enjoyed the outdoors. Growing up on a family Christmas tree farm – she could literally go over the river (creek) and through the woods to her grandmother’s house – instilled a love of nature in her at an early age. As an adult she uses a mobility scooter or power chair to get up close to nature and take photos that she turns into note cards available for sale at Engage Arts Studio, 1005 Gravel Pike, Schwenksville, or at her online shop at www.noteworthynaturephotos.com.