forget-me-not with paws / alpine poppy / apple blossom / forsythia / bridal spirea / flowering crab / white lilac / new maple leaves / dandelion / pink tulips / lilac / more apple blossoms / dandelion
celebration !
I live here,
daily,
here amongst
all this breathtaking beauty
lucky me
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save
Mary Oliver - The Journey
your comments, you know the comments I mean, you know who you are my friends, those comments lift me up, make me feel loved, brave & filled with courage and gratitude - so thank you, thank you !
It is great you can appreciate the beauty around you and how lucky you are.
ReplyDeleteLife can sometimes get in the way and block out the beauty. I am glad you can find happiness in the poems and your surroundings.
xxx
Wow. Your plants are well ahead of those here in the Passage. Wish I could stuff my face into those liclacs and take a big sniff.
ReplyDeletelilacs !
ReplyDeleteGorgeous flowers dear Susan, so much beauty in your garden...I love the white lilac.
ReplyDeletexoxoxo ♡
Beautiful garden, inspiring poem. That poem was one of the things that kept me coming out when it was tough to contemplate. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDelete