We, in our immediate family, seem to discuss the serious, deeper things in life early in the morning over our first cup of coffee. The discussion some times stretches to a second and a third cup. This week we had a three cuppa conversation about the way humans tend to fight against the natural flow of life ..... which brought to mind a poem I love .................
Passage by John Brehm
In all the woods that day I was
the only living thing
fretful, exhausted, or unsure.
Giant fir and spruce and cedar trees
that had stood their ground
three hundred years
stretched in sunlight calmly
unimpressed by whatever
it was that held me
hunched and tense above the stream,
biting my nails, calculating all
my impossibilities.
Nor did the water pause
to reflect or enter into
my considerations.
It found its way
over and around a crowd
of rocks in easy flourishes,
in laughing evasions and
shifts in direction.
Nothing could slow it down for long.
It even made a little song
out of all the things
that got in its way,
a music against the hard edges
of whatever might interrupt its going.
"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao Tzu
"If you watch nature,
how nature deals with adversity,
continually renewing itself,
you can't help but learn .... " - Bernie Siegel
Xavier+Verhoest.jpg)
Deposit of Silence(3) by Xavier Verhoest. See website here
"I look at a stream and I see myself; a South African, flowing irresistibly over hard obstacles until they become smooth, and one day, disappear." - Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist. You might recognize Pata Pata, the click song, here
Scanned Assemblage found at Morning Earth. I will definitely go back to browse! Click here.
lovely! a peaceful start to the day! thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is an absolutely beautiful post. I feel especially drawn to the first work, by Caroline Rannersberger and to the John Brehm poem. Thankyou, really good work, it's made my day.
ReplyDeleteLove the poem and the pics, I love Bridgette's Treeness of Trees, huge fan of her encaustic work.
ReplyDeleteLyle, have a great day!
ReplyDeleteGardner in the Distance, I'm so happy you have enjoyed the post.
Kathryn, I had completed the post and then saw Bridgette's Treeness of Trees and just knew it had to be a part of the post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Robyn. I was very moved by that poem. I've written it down. It is good to be reminded again and again...
ReplyDeleteps: absolutely love how you measure your morning family conversations in cuppas :)
The poem speaks volumes. Thank you also for alerting me to Mr. Caddy's website.
ReplyDeleteThis is all so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
What a wonderful way to start my Saturday! - thought provoking poem, beautiful images and a song that got me dancing!
ReplyDeletexxoo
Beauty collected and shared...my gratitude, Robyn
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post reminding me not to hurry and worry, a wonderful poem and lovely accompanying works of art.
ReplyDeletesoothing
ReplyDeleteand ever so true
as we gather
the gloriously golden
leaves
oak,
maple,
elm
covering
our here
like a shimmering
carpet
preparing
for Sandy
to breeze through
and mix it up
a bit...
lovely, lovely post Robyn!
great way to start the day...
xox - eb.
Thank you, Robyn...what a beautifully calm post considering it was a 3-cuppa inspiration. Seriously tho, a truly SPLENDID message here. And now I off to click on all the links....
ReplyDeleteThrough my eyes and heart, I find this solace for the soul..
ReplyDeleteThank you Robyn.
beautiful images and that poem is just so beautiful and true... oh how I wish we could all just slow down enough to listen to the trees and the rivers and the oceans and the waterholes out in the deserts and all the small creatures that rely on them so they become the prioroty in each of our lives all around the world so we can hand on a healthy planet in our lifetimes for all the future generations...
ReplyDeleteI think Leslie said it better than I can.
ReplyDeleteThank you Robyn.
Oh I needed that poem today of all days. Thank you for sharing it Robyn.
ReplyDeleteso beautiful and how right this whole post feels to me.
ReplyDeleteBesides the wonderful artists who create their feelings about nature, and the lovely poem.. you introduced me to Morning Earth.. I went there and found some more beautiful images and poetry.
ReplyDeleteR- I love that title - making music against the hard edges. How often do we rant about the challenges and obstacles of life whilst nature finds a way to flow around them or maybe rather to incorporate them into the ongoing design - and everything is accomplished. A beautiful reminder - thanks R. And I like the idea of a two or three cuppa morning - time to consider the flow of life. B
ReplyDeleteMusic and nature does take away the hard edges of life.
ReplyDeleteThank you Robyn. Your post really touched me today. I will save that poem for myself. Beautiful images!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to thank you.
Thanks again for a lovely and inspirational post. :)
ReplyDeleteI always send a link to your post to a friend, who is not a blogger. As usual Robyn, she is blown away by what she sees.
ReplyDeleteLove that poem - am now going to look him up.
Robyn, You are on my wave length right now. This is a beautiful poem and these images are beautiful. As usual your posts are full of inspiration. xoxo
ReplyDeleteRobyn, I love the way all these different artists succinctly tie into the nature theme with the same pallete (of course, that's your genius pulling them all together!). Anyway, that sounds like the dream: going back and forth from Thailand to NZ (re: your friends from New Zealand)! We're back to NZ in two years and then hopefully back here again :-) We are fast falling in love with Thailand so I think our roots (if that's possible) will be firmly planted in both countries.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming on by to say hi. Yes, I've begun blogging again. I think it might have something to do with the artistic isolation of another culture.
That is a beautiful poem...with a lot of meaning. And your chose the perfect, organic images of art to include side-by-side.
ReplyDeleteHappy memories of Miriam Makeba in the sad Apartheid days when South African musicians came frequently to perform in London...Bittersweet!
ReplyDeleteWonderful links as always....if only I could find time to follow them all...
I always find something to explore further when I come here. Thanks, Robyn!
ReplyDeleteLinked my recent blog post to this one of yours - thanks for the inspiration!!!:>)
ReplyDeleteAh Robyn, I needed this today. Thankyou. All the images and words are wonderful, but it will be Miriam M. who stays with me today, watching her and hearing her voice, truly uplifting.
ReplyDeleteLove Miriam M's words and she can do a dance !
ReplyDeleteThanda.
Thank you again Robyn for including my painting in this post. The poem is just a perfect reflection and gives me much to think about in my own passage. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love Miriam Makeba's music. A long time ago I worked for a writer who was from South Africa and she introduced me to her music. Have loved it since.
A beautiful beautiful poem, that I sat and enjoyed. And then such beautiful images that I looked at again and again. All such amazing creations. Thanks also for their links
ReplyDeleteIt feels so good to visit this online oasis of contemplation and beauty. Rannersberger is mesmerizing!
ReplyDeleteOh! I know so well the discussions in the morning over our first cup of coffee. Usually I'm on the other side. I'm the listener ;-). Morning Earth is good!!
ReplyDeletereally impressed...lots of thougts
ReplyDeletethans so much
Priya, talking about conversations and cuppas I immediately thought of your Red Book conversations with Maya.
ReplyDeleteSand Hill Art, glad you are enjoying John Caddy's website.
Lynn, my pleasure. Thank you.
Judy, the Pata Pata song certainly get's that foot tapping :-)
Maggie, glad you enjoyed the post.
Linda, I read the poem again this morning and it does make one stop a while before rushing off at a tangent.
eb, hope sandy has avoided your neck of the woods.So glad you enjoyed the post!
Sweetpea, it is always a pleasure to know that my posts have been well received. Have a peaceful weekend.
Leslie, solace for the soul.... a lovely thought.
Mo, yes .. it's difficult to slow down when everything else around you is rushing about.... but poetry and art slows us down for those moments and offers solace.
My pleasure, Penny
Heather, glad you enjoyed the poem. Have a great weekend.
Velma, ahhh well I'm just happy that this post has provided a few moments of calm which might spread to the rest of the day.
Donna, there is a lot of exploring to be done over at Morning Earth. Glad you followed the link.
Barry, a few cuppas in the morning and a glass in the evening to consider the flow of life :-)
Lisa, indeed ...
Patricia G, I appreciate your stopping by and hope that the poem stays with you all weekend.
ReplyDeleteArt, my pleasure. Thank you!
Thanks Weaver, glad you enjoyed the poem.
Annie, I hope you have a peaceful, arty weekend.
Debrina, looking forward to reading more about your new adventure. I hope you blog about it!
Seth, I like the fact that the tension at the beginning of the poem just seeps away by the end of it.
Wild C, I shouldn't be surprised at just how many overseas bloggers know of Miriam Makeba.
Leslie, enjoy!
Oogleboops, thanks for linking :-)
HHnB, I'm delighted that the post and Miriam lifted your day.
Mansuetude, ... she certainly gets the hips a-swaying :-)
Bridgette, it's so interesting to read of your connection to Miriam's music.
Kim, glad you enjoyed the post.
Shayla, so great to see your face again. Rannersberger's art is stirring isn't it?!
Wim, another Morning Earth fan!
Yvette, food for thought is good. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Leslie