Begining to surface

gjphoto archive

I sat in the car and made a phone call. We in the sixth week of the UK lockdown and I was aware in the words of the poet John O’Donohue,

“This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.”

I have been lying low and felt I was only beginning to surface. It is still not over and it is at this time that we have to remain vigilant lest we be knocked down by an unexpected wind.

The friend reminded me that the stories of human trials in the Holy books are not there to entertain but to inspire courage when we are going through trials. Poetry too can speak to the anguished soul.

Perhaps I am now in the second stage of the poem

“Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.”

Best day,

g

PS the full poem below

“This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.”