SUNSET. I FIND IT profoundly beautiful. Poetically beautiful.
Last week while walking a tree-lined trail in Faribault’s North Alexander Park, I stopped to appreciate the sunset through the trees.
I aimed my camera lens skyward, toward treetops. Branches, like lines drawn in wide chisel and felt tip markers, traced the sky. Sharp against backdrop canvases of blue, pink and orange. Lovely. The literary and visual work of an artist.
Scenes like this are so ordinary, yet extraordinary. Nature, when viewed in pause mode, seems even more stunning these days.
When I lift my camera and look through a viewfinder to frame a photo, I see so much. I notice details. Shapes. Colors. Patterns. Light.
It’s a process similar to writing poetry. I immerse myself in creating something beautiful. Poetry requires sparse, well-chosen words. Photography requires that, too, but in a visual way.
In this unprecedented time of social distancing, isolation and concern about COVID-19, I feel especially grateful for a quiet place to walk, to appreciate the art of nature and then create my own art via photography.
April is National Poetry Month. Celebrate by reading a poem, writing a poem or finding a poem in nature, like I did at North Alexander Park on a cold April evening with strong winds gusting from the northwest, sometimes shaking my camera lens.
© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Your sunset pictures are stunning. Happy Poetry month to you.
Thank you and thank you, my friend, from wintry Minnesota.
Lovely photos, Audrey! I’ve been watching the sunsets more than usual – sunrises, too. There is a lot of beauty to appreciate if we just open our eyes. And happy National Poetry Month.
Happy National Poetry Month to you also, dear Kathleen! And thank you for appreciating my sunset pix.
I love these tree silhouettes…
Thank you, Valerie. As you can see, I went a little wild with the photos. I couldn’t stop taking pix.
There’s always something special about a sunset photo!They made me look up from the computer to see what tonight’s is looking like! Very similar in color to your photos in fact, and I’m also looking through trees!
Thanks for that report from the Nicollet area. Good to hear from you!
All of your photos are profoundly beautiful.
Thank you. That means a lot coming from you.