Monday Morning Musings:
“We forget that nature itself is one vast miracle transcending the reality of night and nothingness. We forget that each one of us in his personal life repeats that miracle.”
–Loren Eiseley, The Firmament of Time, quoted here.
In argent splendor, she rises
full in her monthly course
Worm Moon in a yearly cycle
as winter turns to spring
she hums a song
awakening the flowers
pink, yellow, blue, white
and birds soar, black silhouettes
against the feather-clouds
while beneath, unaware,
puppies run and tumble. I toss
a frisbee in the air
chased and caught–
what rises falls–
as we know, but forget,
ignore the signs,
and the moon’s warning–
it will be cockeyed day
of near mishaps
still the sun rises and sets
as the earth rotates
and we spin, but don’t fall—not yet—
while we make another revolution
through the year
to my sister-niece’s birthday.
While the men create order
from the chaos of the garden
we watch the river less restrained
crashing in waves upon the rocks
Delaware River at Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ
while across the water
large ships sail into port
and out again to the sea
a cycle of commerce—
the river has seen it all, she sighs
as we walk and talk
of family and friends
of the history of this place
once full of crops and fish
where men died in battle
(Do you shiver, sensing their ghosts
drifting by?)
we reflect on the times
but we eat and drink
celebrate her birthday–
in this time of caution–
with a solo candle for her slice–
don’t get too close,
the three-quarter moon hums
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn
Ignore her,
the age-old story–
pestilence and plagues
arrogance and ignorance–
but the flowers bloom again in spring
whether we see them or not
a miracle of nature
we forget and remember
trying to tame chaos
as the waves crash
we stop, look—sometimes
holding out a hand, even if it’s dangerous–
and the sun
rises again
and again
and again
and again.
Sunrise Salutation
It’s been a strange week. Some of you may have seen my previous post, “Tilting.”
Merril’s Movie Club: In this time of social distancing, we haven’t gone out to see any movies recently, but we watched a movie last night, White Lies, New Zealand’s entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2014 Academy Awards. It’s a film that slowly uncovers secrets from the past about identity, colonialism, and women’s roles. It’s in Maori and English. It’s on Amazon Prime.
We’re also watching Babylon Berlin on Netflix. It’s been on my list for awhile, but we’re just getting to it. Season 3 just dropped. We’ve binged Season 1, which begins in Berlin in 1929, and we’re on Season 2 now. It’s a real Merril show—neo-noir with a complicated storyline, dazzling visuals, and song and dance in every episode. I was a bit confused after the first episode, but now I’m hooked (and so is my husband).
