I used to think that if a person felt happy, he just wasn’t paying much attention. I still suffer from dark bouts of melancholy where I have a near-certain conviction that there is nothing much good in the world.
Truth is, I need to get out more. I need to break away from the captivity of this computer screen locked away in this poor-excuse-for-a-prayer closet. I need to take a wilderness walk with Wendell, who writes –
When despair for the world grows for me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake rests,
in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things,
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief,
I come into the presence of still water,
and I feel above me the dayblind stars,
waiting with their light,
for a time, I rest in the grace of the world,
and am free.
(”The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry)
Words, as beautiful as they can be, will never fully set us free. It’s only when words become living beings that we can enjoy new life.
Yes, you need to get out more, but all of us do. Thanks for posting the poem!
The Pistol fires back: You are welcome.
Btw! Here is my main blog site. It’s a little political and a little humorous, but it’s me!! Hope you will visit me!
http://ruserious1947.spaces.live.com/
The Pistol fires back: Thanks, Bob. I’ll drop in.
This has always been one (among many) of my favorites of Wendell Berry’s poems….it reaches down DEEP, and makes you take your next breath with some conscious thought and a measure of genuine gratitude.
The Pistol fires back: It certainly perks me up.
Wow, There was one of those in my back yard the other day (blue heron). This is how I think sometimes too:
I used to think that if a person felt happy, he just wasn’t paying much attention. I still suffer from dark bouts of melancholy where I have a near-certain conviction that there is nothing much good in the world.
So thanks for the reminder to get out.
The Pistol fires back: Absolutely.
i think it’s all about balance, really. sticking only to words, or only to images, or only to the wilderness would be missing out on other great aspects of life. i love words, and what they can do, but i also love going out into the world to appreciate the beauty around me. it’s the combination of the two that keeps me sane. :)
oh, and people too. i need the people in my life more than anything.
The Pistol fires back: Good points. Balance is certainly key.
i suffered 2 bouts of severe depression..but words & others & God of course got me through!
The Pistol fires back: Glad to hear you’re making it through.
What an awesome post, picture, and reminder!
Thank you.
The Pistol fires back: Just leave it to Wendell to find such beauty in the world.
Daybreak at the Eastern Edge of the World
Every day I drive into a Technicolor sunrise.
Such is daybreak at the Eastern Edge of the world.
I must cross two rivers before I reach the sea.
Each river is spanned by thin web of steel and concrete.
I work a stone’s throw from the ocean and I gauge the tempo of the day by the colors of the sea.
A dark blue sea portends a calm day.
A green sea speaks of storms to come.
A slate gray sea: the storm is here.
The Pistol fires back: Very poetic. Thanks.