Thank you, 2020, for teaching me to slow down. To pause, to listen, to write, to feel, to heal, to breathe, to live. To love... One of my favorite writers is Mary Oliver. Her poem, Gratitude, is one of my faves so here it is, from my heart to yours. Gratitude By Mary Oliver What did you notice? The dew-snail; the low-flying sparrow; the bat, on the wind, in the dark; big-chested geese, in the V of sleekest performance; the soft toad, patient in the hot sand; the sweet-hungry ants; the uproar of mice in the empty house; the tin music of the cricket’s body; the blouse of the goldenrod. What did you hear? The thrush greeting the morning; the little bluebirds in their hot box; the salty talk of the wren, then the deep cup of the hour of silence. When did you admire? The oaks, letting down their dark and hairy fruit; the carrot, rising in its elongated waist; the onion, sheet after sheet, curved inward to the pale green wand; at the end of summer the brassy dust, the almost liquid beauty of the flowers; then the ferns, scrawned black by the frost. What astonished you? The swallows making their dip and turn over the water. What would you like to see again? My dog: her energy and exuberance, her willingness, her language beyond all nimbleness of tongue, her recklessness, her loyalty, her sweetness, her strong legs, her curled black lip, her snap. What was most tender? Queen Anne’s lace, with its parsnip root; the everlasting in its bonnets of wool; the kinks and turns of the tupelo’s body; the tall, blank banks of sand; the clam, clamped down. What was most wonderful? The sea, and its wide shoulders; the sea and its triangles; the sea lying back on its long athlete’s spine. What did you think was happening? The green beast of the hummingbird; the eye of the pond; the wet face of the lily; the bright, puckered knee of the broken oak; the red tulip of the fox’s mouth; the up-swing, the down-pour, the frayed sleeve of the first snow-- so the gods shake us from our sleep.
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Love Turned Inwards, 2002, Julie J. Guerrero After All Dar Williams Go ahead push your luck Find out how much love the world can hold Once upon a time I had control and reined my soul in tight Well the whole truth Is like the story of a wave unfurled But I held the evil of the world So I stopped the tide froze it up from inside And it felt like A winter machine that you go through and then You catch your breath and winter starts again And everyone else is spring bound And when I chose to live There was no joy it's just a line I crossed It wasn't worth the pain my death would cost So I was not lost or found And if I was to sleep I knew my family had more truth to tell And so I traveled down a whispering well To know myself through them Growing up my mom had a room full of books And hid away in there Her father raging down a spiral stair Till he found someone, most days his son And sometimes I think My father, too, is a refugee I know they tried to keep their pain from me They could not see what it was for But now I'm sleeping fine Sometimes the truth is like a second chance I am the daughter of a great romance And they are the children of the war Well, the sun rose With so many colors it nearly broke my heart It worked me over like a work of art And I was a part of all that So go ahead push your luck Say what it is you gotta say to me We will push on into that mystery And it will push right back And there are worse things than that 'Cause for every price And every penance that I could think of It's better to have fallen in love Than never to have fallen at all 'Cause when you live in a world Well it gets in to who you thought you'd be And now I laugh at how the world changed me I think life chose me After all
This song is dedicated to my LGBTQ chosen family. May we all feel seen, heard, and valued. Because we are beautiful. We belong. We deserve to love freely. Hold on to each other, sweet friends. Hold on tonight. I love you. xoxo Midnight Radio Rain falls hard Burns dry A dream Or a song That hits you so hard Filling you up And suddenly gone Breathe feel love Give free Know in your soul Like your blood knows the way From your heart to your brain Knows that you're whole And you're shining Like the brightest star A transmission On the midnight radio And you're spinning Like a 45 Ballerina Dancing to your rock and roll Here's to Patti And Tina And Yoko Aretha And Nona And Nico And me And all the strange rock and rollers You know you're doing all right So hold on to each other You gotta hold on tonight It's Election Day Eve.
Instead of watching the news, you're writing, you're creating. You're listening to Ani DiFranco's Angry Anymore and you are remembering the paths that led you to this moment. You never give up and I'm so very proud of you, Julie. You know it. You made it. The believer. The doer. The organizer. The leader. The artist. The writer. All of them are now home and love is at the center. I know if feels too good to be true but you know its not. Your big dreams are coming true. Whatever happens tomorrow, stay present. Whatever happens next week. stay present. Whatever happens next month, stay present. Whatever happens next year, stay present. I need you well and I need you whole. You were and are meant to survive. You are meant to share your story. You are meant to share kindness. Your are meant to share humanity. You are meant to share love. Whatever happens tomorrow, stay focused. Whatever happens next week. stay focused. Whatever happens next month, stay focused. Whatever happens next year, stay focused. Remember, the the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. You are a change maker, Julie. You always were. You know you're on the right side of justice. Stay the course, stay true to your name. Justo Guerrero. Just Warrior. Whatever happens tomorrow, stay true. Whatever happens next week. stay true. Whatever happens next month, stay true. Whatever happens next year, stay true. Believe, Julie. Believe with all your heart. And let love turn inwards. xoxo |
THIS IS LOVE TURNED INWARDSby julie j. guerrero ArchivesCategories |