I was up early this morning cooking as my book group comes here for dinner tonight.
I read the news and don't even know what to say. I seem to be in a place of wholeness, of embracing sadness, change, and joy all at one time. I suppose it is like mixing a pot of chili. The flavors need time to blend.
Our rain is stopped for the next few days and yet, there is still the gift of clouds.
Mary Oliver knows just what to say.
Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way
on the earth!
That’s what it said
as it dropped,
smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches
and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing
under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,
and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment
my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars
and the soft rain –
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.
~ Mary Oliver ~
(What Do We Know)