Be Back When I'm Through Blooming

https://www.lynnungar.com/

Perhaps this can be

your plan for the weekend---

and beyond?

kastilwell

 

Seeing the Shape of Your Life

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/247224.Albert_Huffstickler?from_search=true&from_srp=true

 

How's this for a new view of things?

How many times have I told myself to

"get over it" or "let it go" or "brush it off".

From now on, I will pause 

and consider the option of "blending it in" 

or "moving with it".  

 I still believe there are

certain things that need to move

on down the river or to the compost bin.

Not to be ignored or dismissed or "obliterated"

but to be transformed into a 

more useful shape.

kastilwell

Be a Part of this Great Something

 An excerpt from a longer poem

I tucked away awhile ago.

"get quiet enough to remember

we really don't know a damn thing

about any of it"

While this sentiment

is where I often find myself,

in reality,

we do know a great deal

about many things

and those facts 

can be a vast source of astonishment.

Seeing a murmuration of starlings

on my recent trip

had me "collapsing in wonder"

and the fields of goldenrod

undulating like a sea of gold

"sideswiped me with awe."

Remembering these realities

juxtaposed with the vast unknown,

opens me into a spacious place

where anything is possible.

Leaving me creaking with gratitude.

kastilwell

What a Thing. What a Thing Indeed."

Donna Ashworth

 

Isn't it encouraging to consider

all the lives we've touched

in ways we may not remember

or pay any attention to?

"What a thing. What a thing indeed."

kastilwell

A Reminder from the Stars

 "The molecules in my left collarbone

come from a different galaxy than my right"?

How's that for astonishing?

Yes, to "honoring their sacrifice"...

may I sanctify their existence in time

and their existence in me.

May I return the gift in some small measure

to those traveling time with me.

kastilwell

Love After Love

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/derek-walcott

 I love this so much 

I'm sharing it again.

To find and love the stranger

who was and is myself.

to "give back my heart to itself."

May you "feast on your life."

kastilwell

Wooden Boats

 Seeing an artist lovingly caress their work,

or stand back and view it with satisfaction,

or lose themselves to their music or dance,

or swoon at the taste of the food they made,

 makes me want to emulate their devotion.

Slowing down and enjoying the process

seems much more enchanting than

"getting it done".

kastilwell

Trees

https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/trees-6

This entire poem is a song of contradiction

which is why I love it and want to share.

The quiet dignity of trees.

"To be giant and keep quiet about it"

and on down the lines of the poem.

Something to aspire to for a human being.

kastilwell

 

Mimesis

Leave it to a youngster

to zero in on the heart of something

with precision and candor.

I think about refugees in terms of 

"invasive" plants.

It's an uncomfortable reflection.

kastilwell

 

What Is The Sound Of The Moon?

 These questions, posed by a good friend

caught my attention immediately.

"What is the sound of the moon?"

I love when thoughts catapult me 

into new territory

providing different perspectives

and considerations.

I'll be thinking about them

going forward...

I'll especially be listening 

for the "sounds and rhythms

the trees create"

as I walk with "my" forest.

kastilwell

Testimony

The Entire Poem

 

I encourage you to read the entire poem

if you have the time.

The take away for me today is

"to look again and again."

I might add that it helps to

zoom yourself out to the edge

of the universe

and then zoom in 

to the molecules of your body.

(Not to mention

the invisible parts 

of your mind and spirit.)

This exercise served as a way

to disengage from a

tumultuous event

of no lasting significance

that had taken on

immense proportions

unnecessarily.

kastilwell

In The Middle

Entire poem

 

"caught between the mesh of rope and the net of stars"

What a dynamic place to be.

Poised in a state of alert wonder.

Aware and grateful.

Merged with the river of life.

kastilwell

Take Love For Granted

The poem in its entirety

Taking love for granted

is a quirky idea.

I take the point.

It's a fun thought to play with.

Perhaps it's best to leave it there.

Perhaps its best not to admit

that I never want to take

love for granted.

Perhaps that's due 

to my skewed view.

Making it a precious

and rare commodity

rather than seeing it

everywhere and in everyone?

It's a serious shift.

For a serious leaning person.

One that might change everything?

Thoughts matter.

kastilwell

We Are Of A Tribe

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/alberto-rios

 No divisions, no walls.

This is the world I dream of.

I've heard that in order to change, 

we must imagine the world we wish to live in,

This seems like an excellent place to begin.

This is an excerpt...the entire poem is worthwhile

and recommended.  I found it in Poetry of Presence.

kastilwell

The Word

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/tony-hoagland

This poem delighted me.

 ..."and sunlight were a present

s/he had sent from someplace distant

as this morning--to cheer you up,

and to remind you that, among your duties,

pleasure is a thing..."

The day was overcast yesterday as I 

began my walk in the woods as

it has been most every morning.

As I was heading home,

approached the ridge overlooking

the valley where we live,

a large brilliant light

flashed through the trees.

My immediate thought

was it was a large truck

coming up the road.

It was the sun!!  

It made me think of this poem

and rejoice in the sun

and the woods

and walking

and friends

and the internet

where people

can share uplifting thoughts

and the river of goodness

can flow through the ether.

kastilwell

Things To Live For

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7757886.Nikita_Gill

 Oh my, these are encouraging and comforting words...

like balm on a scrape.

"The astonishment waiting in the 

small cracks of life where no one

expected anything to grow."

How delectable!  

Like when I discover a flower

I'd forgotten planting blooming 

for all its worth.

and

"Your own wildflower heart

that still longs to love this world

and everything in it."

I'm grateful to be part of

this group of seed planters!

kastilwell

PS:  Petrichor...is a new word for me.

"a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain 

after a long period of warm, dry weather."

Go Gently Today

https://www.juliafehrenbacher.com/

 

Isn't this lovely?

Running across it this morning,

I have to share. (Especially after reading 

Heather Cox Richardson.)

"Forgiving myself for not meeting

unreasonable expectations."

A delicious way to start the day.

I'm now "breathing until I

stop needing anything 

to be different."

I'm finding I can reach it

in my personal life.

Which I grant you,

is undeniably privileged.

It's not quite so easy

when considering the

ongoing assault on 

our rule of law.

Then I remember something else 

I encountered this morning:

September Night

The mountain air forgets to be cold,
and my daughter and I walk in the dark
beside the river. I almost can’t see,
yet thanks to starlight,
we step over roots, over rocks.
There are moments,
even whole chapters of our lives,
when we understand how the smallest
bit of light makes a difference.  
Tonight, we are laughing,
singing as we go.
Trust, too, is a kind of light.
In this dark moment, it is all I see.

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

I'm trusting in the "River of Goodness" 

to cleanse and renew our land and our landscape.

Thanks be for our poets and musicians!

kastilwell

The Second Music

I've not thought of two melodies playing

yet, now that she mentions it, 

I'm intrigued.

It entices me to listen more deeply for 

this "lower, more steady" music touching

"gently as fingertips".

"If the truth of our lives is what it is playing,

the telling is so soft that this mortal time, 

this irrevocable change,

becomes beautiful."

May we hear our second music.

kastilwell

 

Lie Down

"Stop doing.  Stop judging, fearing, trying."

The last one, "trying" is the one that 

I most needed to hear this morning.

I take the others to heart as well.

I also take to heart that this is a duet 

between lying down and rising up.

Like breathing--

an exchange.

A tango of giving and receiving.

In tempo with the plants and trees.

In rhythm with the seas.

A merging of everything.

kastilwell

 

Ancient Language

 This changes my walks in the woods.

While listening to the thud of my shoes,

and the wind in the leaves, and the birds,

and the river of thoughts in my mind,

I exchange oxygen with the plants and trees.

The forest becomes an ocean.

A mutual meditation.

kastilwell

PS: I had a glimpse of the owl yesterday.