“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” – Muriel Rukeyser
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” – Lao Tzu
While moving into my new house, I discovered a journal I had started back in 2023. I had given it the colorful title, Poems – Reflections on Life or Observations from a Life Lived Close to the Earth. Following are a few passages from the first pages. They are not in a defined order but as the title suggests, they are simply Miscellany and assuredly there will be more to come.
The wind howls through the nearly barren trees. The leaves on the beech tree that hang on rattle like the bones of a skeleton on this late autumn night. They play a somber song but still the wind puts me to sleep as darkness envelops my world. It is a primordial tune that has been played through the ages. I know the tune well for it I sings to my soul. Soon, I close my eyes to the night.
Cardenalis cardenalis. Northern Cardinal. Your scarlet feathers stand out in the evening glow against the landscape; your red beak is equally as bright. You dip your scarlet top hat bidding farewell to the passing day. But please linger in my sight a little longer as I bask in the joy of your beauty.
If I were to be reborn I want to be a tree; a bristlecone pine. To grow in the high mountains alone and live for thousands of years. I would weather many storms and the mountain winds would shape me. I would witness countless sunrises and sunsets, but I’m a tree so who’s counting?
I cry at a flower broken off in full bloom. I mourn at a tree limb broken off in blossom. Oh beauty, where have you gone?
When the smallest of living things is crushed under foot do we shed a tear? When a whale dies do we cry?
Where the spirit of God is there is nature.
“I believe everything has a soul.” – Mary Oliver
“As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand…” – Jeremiah 18:6
“Life has no meaning a priori…it’s up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose.” – Jean-Paul Sartre