Poems From The Porch
I am in Nashville today listening to the sound of indoor waterfalls and letting their constancy provide a doorway to my soul.
There are birds flying around in this glass-ceiling atrium, a metaphor for my own experience.
Above, the blue sky is opening into an endless expanse.
I can see clearly how the sanctuary of my home has become a tomb where I have been lying next to my dead husband.
To live again, to find myself, to be open to new experiences, requires a change of scenery.
I know that now, but couldn’t identify what I needed until I said, “Yes” to the invitation, stepped out in faith, left the known.
It isn’t my time to lay down and be buried.
My old life died with my husband — — two deaths, not one.
There is a hand lifting me out of the grave, wooing me, seducing me, whispering in desperate longing.
It is Life Itself, reminding me that I am loved and precious, that I am meant to be here.
The thing is, I have to let go of the dead things to allow Life to pull me up.
My love for my husband remains, but his body and our life together are gone.
Detachment is not actually painful.
The suffering is in the clinging.
Breathe, tender heart, breathe.
Inhale deeply of this moment, and exhale that which no longer serves you.
There is still good in the world.
Engaging With The Poem
Poetry can be a doorway to the soul and your own creativity. Throughout the ages, the written word has been used as a means to access personal truth and as a vehicle for prayer through the practice of sacred reading (lectio divina). I encourage you to try this beautiful practice and let its truths to be self-evident.
How To Practice Sacred Reading
Read+Reflect+Respond+Rest
READ the passage through slowly more than once, noticing how it feels in your body and the response of your heart.
REFLECT: What word resonates with you? What phrase speaks to you? What overall personal meaning comes to you? Allow yourself to follow a tangent.
RESPOND by making space for the prayer of your heart to manifest. Write down the words and/or phrases that resonate with you, and allow them to arrange themselves into your own poem or prayer.
REST with your eyes closed, perhaps using the word that most resonates with you as your mantra for silent meditation.
Dear friend,
May your mind be peaceful and calm, may your body be relaxed and comfortable, and may your heart be filled with love.
Thank you for reading.
Blessings and gratitude, Ani
Whispering in desperate longing
Creating you.
What I thought I read is above but I see ‘creating you’ was mine as I reread a second time. always being created, nothing to find. The canvas begins again with every passing second into the next brush stroke.
Thank you for sharing you.