The Well: Poem and Image

 The Well  

There is a well

deep in the heart

of the green world.

It is a long way

from here, or just

around the bend.

No one knows

the way there.

You can ask.

Not a soul can say,

only yours.

If you go,

when you go,

be sure to bring

an offering.

Only taking would be

an offense.

Only giving would be

a lie.

When the longing

for those waters

grows strong enough

in you, you must go.

You may wonder

if the yearning is due to

your being summoned,

or if it is yours alone.

In truth,

it does not matter.

The well in the woods

waits patiently.

Just go.

The Mystic and the Pragmatist

 I draw a SoulCollage® card pretty much every day as a guide for the day.  Here's one that sparked a poem. What is hard to see is that the woman on the right is holding a model of a factory.

The Mystic and the Pragmatist

In Memory of Angeles Arrien and Seena Frost

 

 

Angeles always advised,

“Walk the mystical path

with practical feet.”

 

It is truly a balancing

act, always juggling

the moon and the machine,

the stars and the darkness.

 

This waterfall world

is liminal. Edge dwelling

is what we have.

 

Neither mystic nor

pragmatist must

reign supreme;

one alone is

half a soul.

 

Ground the body!

Raise your eyes and

your hands!

See how the waterfall

links heaven and earth!

Ode to a Chair

 Who knows where these ideas come from?  I suddenly thought I wanted to write about my recliner, on which I have spent much of the last five months.  It made me think of Pablo Neruda's odes to ordinary things.  I once knew his "Ode to Tomato" by heart, and loved hearing Doug recite the one to socks.  So, remembering them and Neruda (not that I can in any way compare myself to him), here is my ode to a chair.

Stolid and stalwart,

it sits by the window

with a vista of distant hills,

local trees and dwellings,

and bird feeders bustling

with finches and hummingbirds.

Reclined, its chestnut leather skin

opens into a nest of ease,

accompanied by a soft,

pale green blanket.

Upright, it is a perfect place

for reading to children.

The chair has been comfort,

companion and consoler.

Praise the small things 

that hold us up!

Here is an articulation of gratitude

to the chair of my illness

and my healing.