poetry (wild gardening) and checking in
Hello dear ones,
I’m curious, does anyone in my little community of loved ones write poetry? I’m noticing in me a calling to express more in poems, even writing some emails and messages in verse. If so, maybe we can put together a sort of “poetry brigade”, a group of friends sharing poems weekly or biweekly, in written or spoken form. Inspired after reading my friend Nathan’s email sharing his poetry!
Quick update: I have safely landed on American soil with all of my things from Israel Palestine. For the past two weeks, I have been hibernating in a cabin three hours north of San Francisco. Some highlights...
Building stove fires. This house is heated solely by a wood stove and I’ve gotten much practice! I learned that the wood sticks and dry branches which catch quickly are often not enough to light the large logs: there is an intermediate kind of branch, thicker in diameter, which provides the energy for transition to a lasting, slow-burning fire.
Exploring balance. What does it mean to truly stop and rest? How can stopping facilitate more ease and energy in my work, projects, and relationships? Other things in balance or imbalance: contemplation and action, the comfort and familiarity of knowing and the discomfort of not knowing, turning inwards and looking outwards. Thanks to Sister True Vow from Blue Cliff Monastery for this inspiration.
The wonder of the vast, ever-changing lake. I cannot escape the nature of change here. Black hawks with red beaks and white bellies fly overhead in midday, swarms of tiny flies cluster in the evenings. The sun casts shadows, the rain is and is not, the chimes sing in the wind and are silent again.
Challenging the narratives creating my truth. I am trying to (1) become more aware of these narratives and (2) to recognize my own ability to choose which narratives I embody at any given moment. How can I consciously agree to narratives that cultivate a sense of wellbeing and ease, and let go of those that water the seeds of fear, victimhood, and dis-ease?
I want to leave you with a poem that I wrote this week about allowing many truths to abide in my consciousness. I’d love to hear if you write poetry and would like to share too :)
May you be happy, healthy, and well in body and spirit. If any of you are in need of help, please let me know. I am happy to contribute to groceries or rent, or to be together on a video call.
Love,
Melanie
Wild Gardening (thanks to Robert Frost for the first line)
Two truths diverged in a yellow wood, and I,
seeing L continue down his,
Turned towards mine with a boundless joy
With his love in my knapsack, and mine in my heart
Wondering who else I might meet on this twisted way
Later I heard his voice across the way
Melanie, come check out this mushroom, that frog
I abided the call, wandering across fields of wildflowers
Through woods, over pastures
Arriving in time for a thunderstorm
How often do our paths diverge and converge again
Weaving through our own narratives, histories
Pieces not yet filled in, places over-full
Recognizing my path is not static, there are flowers growing
Where there were weeds yesterday
There was a field of sunflowers I saw in L’s yesterday
And today I imagined one in front of me today,
A small patch, tended by the wild gardener
Of my creative heart
This is enough.
P.S. The great expanse of lake before me