Poems, raindrops and the power of thought.

Dear Diary,

Here are two poems, the first was sent to me as a daily poem from Poetry Chaikhana.

Wendell Berry is new to me but I have discovered that he is both prolific and ’green’; an American writer of both poetry and prose. I love discovering new poets, all thanks to this wonderful web we live within.


Sabbaths 1999, VII

Again I resume the long
lesson: how small a thing
can be pleasing, how little
in this hard world it takes
to satisfy the mind
and bring it to its rest.

With the ongoing havoc
the wood this morning is
almost unnaturally still.
Through stalled air, unshadowed
light, a few leaves fall
of their own weight.

The sky
is grey. It begins in mist
almost at the ground
and rises forever. The trees
rise in silence almost
natural, but not quite,
almost eternal, but
not quite.

What more did I
think I wanted? Here is
what has always been.
Here is what will always
be. Even in me,
the Maker of all this
returns in rest, even
to the slightest of His works,
a yellow leaf slowly
falling, and is pleased.

Wendell Berry



Elaine Maria Upton is a contemporary poet, also American.


DREAM POEM


Every time you see a tree
or dream a cloud,
there is that in you of the tree
there is that in you of the cloud.

The saguaro dreams in drought
and endures. The cloud dreams
our woe --sneezes, cries.
The rain falls

Elaine Maria Upton


(For those who are ignorant like me I discovered that the saguaro is another word for cactus).


*


It is a shame but we are not now going away as M has a chest infection and we have had to postpone our visit to Surrey and Sussex. Such is life. Others are enduring far worse at the moment.

But blessings will have to be dredged up.

Strawberries - it’s their season again but (Is it me?), why don’t they have the flavour they had in the ‘old days’? Should I have to buy organic ones?

Hairdressers, hair straighteners and Frizz-Ease. I have only just started using these (last two mentioned) wonderful aids and joy of joys they help to smooth and straighten out my unruly and thick hair that is so prone to curls and waves especially in this, shall we be kind and call it damp. weather we keep having.

Photographs, the camera. As well as my own camera and its ‘digital powers’ there are so many images sent each day from far and wide.

Early nights and how good they make me feel the next day.

New songs.

Geraniums. I bought some more yesterday. I had a very enjoyable trip with my daughter to our favourite garden centre and I also bought another David Austin rose, a deep pink one, a repeater and very fragrant. I also bought another hardy Irish-type fuchsia, and a French lavender.

Light evenings. Lately it seems to be staying light all night here. We are so lucky that we have no light pollution.

The photographs I have posted are of Aberaeron and are for Snailbeachshepherdess really. I loved her phrase ‘sugar almonds’ to describe the coloured houses of this Welsh seaside town.

A lot of folk seem depressed at the moment due to the rainy weather and especially the lack of sunshine. It may be my Irish blood but I love rain. I know I am unusual and very lucky not to suffer from SAD. I never moan if it rains or call it bad weather (I’m with Billy Connolly on that). All life forms need rain and we hay fever sufferers especially revere it at this time of year. The first week of Wimbledon is ALWAYS wet, the second is usually what they love to call ‘a scorcher’. I wilt in the heat and my favourite season is Spring. I like warm, moist weather, the sort you get in West Cork where the land is warmed by the Gulf Stream and palm trees and the like are plentiful. I have roots there and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it is my most-loved part of my much-loved spiritual home.

I enjoy walking in the rain and love to see my garden plants getting a good drink, hearing the otters splashing, seeing wild ducks swimming past, obviously enjoying it too. I suppose I love all extremes of weather and couldn’t live in a country where the weather was without variation day to day, always hot for example or always cold come to that. I love storms, strong winds, snow. I love blue skies too and sunshine, don’t get me wrong and I agree we could do with some more of those at the moment and my heart goes out to those affected by these terrible floods.

Changing the subject but still talking of ‘hearts going out’ and our Sunday night get-togethers.

Physicists have discovered that everything in the universe consists of just particles of matter - energy, all in different forms and that thoughts are also energy. I am no metaphysicist; science was never my best subject at school but I believe in the power of our thoughts. Sending positive energy at a specific time for example by a group of people can only intensify that energy.

I believe in the power of ‘thought energy’; some call it prayer and may attach it to their own particular organised religion, their own particular version of ‘God’. Call it what you will, it has helped me in the past when Christian prayer groups have prayed for me. I know the benefits of ‘distant healing’, M and I both use this to try and help loved ones far away and even if it works for just one person it is surely worth it.

I love the phrase ‘Our thoughts are the world we live in’

Problems are all about perception, change your perception and you change the problem. Try and turn negatives into positives. Hard sometimes, don‘t I know it.. However…….

The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives.
Louise Hay

I will sign off now,

And as the dear Dave Allen used to say:
May Your God Go With You,

Bye for now,
Caitx