“…to Fall in Love with the World…”*
I’ve been obsessed with the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge.
Perhaps it’s because my dear friend’s son was a steel worker for years,
Working the 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. shift on bridges?
Perhaps it’s because something so un-collapsable, collapsed before our eyes.
And in slow motion,
If one
Requested
Slow
Motion
From
The
World
Wide
Web.
Something so
Unbreakable
Broke.
Right in front of us.
Something
So
Firm
And
Solid,
Was
Gone,
In
An
Instant.
I remember watching the first Twin Tower fall,
Over and over again.
The newscasts I watched obsessively that day
Offered images
Of collapse
On
Endless
Repeat
Cycle.
I didn’t have the energy
To look away.
Things that seem forever
Simply
Are
Not.
Is that the message of these times?
Tiny things like—
Truth,
Democracy,
Reality
Seem
To be
Up
For
Grabs.
I choose to keep falling in love with the world.
I choose to keep putting my fears of these external breakdowns,
These unravelings
Of politics,
Of what
Might
Happen,
Of
What
Is
Happening
To the side,
So I can live
And see
The
Beauty.
~~~
On Richmond Pond
We have a Mute Swan
As a resident.
She is alone.
Last year she lived with her partner.
And now,
Alone
And
Surviving.
Perhaps thriving?
These pictures
DO NOT,
Cannot
Demonstrate
Her beauty.
~~~
Let’s keep falling in love
With the world.
Let’s keep coming back
To the beauty,
The kindness,
The love,
No matter what
Is happening,
As best we can.
What brings you back?
Where are you recharged?
Where do you get the spark?
For me?
Niki the Dog
Playing in the morning
With endless,
Unbounded
Glee.
The swan
Floating
Alone,
Gloriously
Beautiful.
A soft song.
A light touch.
A deep connection.
FOLKS!
Let’s keep choosing life.
Let’s keep leaning into
These turning points,
The doorways back
Into the Grace.
~~~
I always found Paul Simon’s music to be deeply comforting. The interplay of his lyrics and his music brings a lightness and a flow to his poetic insights. Here is a favorite of mine, with Paul and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
~~~
Resurrection.
Total transformation
Beyond the physical.
Perhaps these turning points
In our day,
The letting go of the world’s burdens,
The recommitment
To the world’s
Beauty.
Perhaps there
Are a trillion
Tiny
Potential
Resurrections
That might
Fill our day.
Oh, friends.
To light and love.
Light and love.
Light
And
Love.
May we be filled
With light and love.
May our time together
Benefit all beings,
Aruni
*quote by Derek Walcott