Monday, September 22, 2014

Not knowing where to turn, I look to poetry for wisdom

I am heartbroken with Juliet's  news. I am also hopeful because I have to be.I call on every saint, light all of my candles and burn sage. I ring bells in mediation, scream out to the pines, to the birds and the wolves for strength, for justice and healing. Juliet, you are in my heart, always will be. I am at your side. I love you dearly, friend.


In Blackwater Woods
By Mary Oliver

Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it
go,
to let it go.







4 comments:

  1. Girl, you know how much I love Ms. Oliver - almost as much as I worship you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So touching. Letting go is hard but essential to living.

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  3. But never let go of the memories. They can get you through the toughest times.

    ReplyDelete