Thursday, September 2, 2021

Poetry on Thursday

Thunderstorms, tropical rain, and tornadoes have made for some interesting cloud formations recently, but this one reminded me of the importance of holding the light.

Holding the Light
Stuart Kestenbaum
Gather up whatever is
glittering in the gutter,
whatever has tumbled
in the waves or fallen
in flames out of the sky,

for it's not only our
hearts that are broken,
but the heart
of the world as well.
Stitch it back together.

Make a place where
the day speaks to the night
and the earth speaks to the sky.
Whether we created God
or God created us

it all comes down to this:
In our imperfect world
we are meant to repair
and stitch together
what beauty there is, stitch it

with compassion and wire.
See how everything
we have made gathers
the light inside itself
and overflows? A blessing.

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Kestenbaum, Stuart. "Holding the Light". Only Now, Deerbrook Editions, 2013.
You can read more about the poet here

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I wish you mindfulness, peace, good health, the ability to stitch together what beauty there is, and poetry as the week winds down. 

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful poem. Beautiful sky.
    XO

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  2. Been thinking of you and yours, Bonny, and hoping that you are not experiencing any flooding or other bad weather. Very glad to see your post this morning! Lovely poem, perfect for the circumstances. I have been counting my blessings a lot this week. I hope you have fun and restful LD weekend.

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  3. I love this idea of stitching the world back together.

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  4. Wow! What a picture Bonny. And the poem is beautiful. Like Carole, I love the idea of stitching the world together. Glad you weathered the storm ok.

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  5. In Judaism, there's a concept called "tikkun olam" -- repair the world. This beautiful poem made me think of that, of how it's our duty to find the holes and the rips in the world and make them whole again. Thank you so much for sharing it!

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  6. Beautiful Bonny, and so perfect for right now.

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  7. What a lovely poem. Right now it seems like everything is so tenuous - hanging by threads. This weekend I'm going to be inspired by your photo and poem and look for the light.

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  8. Beautiful poem, Bonny. Thank you for sharing.

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  9. so lovely! I love a thunderstorm but Frodo hates them and so there for I'm always wishing them away!

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