Friday, December 2, 2016

Yielding

The beauty is in the walking ― we are betrayed by destinations.
~Gwyn Thomas


Announcing the winner of my Kitty Hawk giveaway:

Our esteemed Poetry Friday host, Bridget Magee! Congrats, Bridget!

Two poems intended to soothe the spirit today.


Walking Blessing
by Jan L. Richardson

That each step
may be a shedding.
That you will let yourself
become lost.
That when it looks
like you’re going backwards
you may be making progress.
That progress is not the goal anyway,
but presence
to the feel of the path on your skin,
to the way it reshapes you
in each place it makes contact,
to the way you cannot see it
until the moment you have stepped out.

************


photo by Erin English

from
A Milkweed
by Richard Wilbur

What power had I
Before I learned to yield?
Shatter me, great wind:
I shall possess the field.

************

Wee Words for Wee Ones has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Bridget!

12 comments:

Robyn Hood Black said...

Ahhhh.... your post makes me exhale, and appreciate, and, as many times before, it's one I'll pass along to my family! Thank you, Tabatha. XO

Tara said...

I love Walking Blessings in particular - I feel so much more at peace just reading it and contemplating the path it suggests. Thanks, Tabatha.

jama said...

Wow, especially like the second poem. Gorgeous! Thanks for this much needed dose of beauty and solace.

Bridget Magee said...

Both poems resonate with me, Tabatha. Wilbur's is so powerful in so few words, "Shatter me, great wind:". *sigh*
And YAY! for the Kitty Hawk book! My Maureen will be thrilled - another gift for my girl. Thank you!

Joyce Ray said...

Love these poems. I walk a labyrinth once begun in our pine grove. Jan Richardson' work is phenomenal. And Wilbur's poem is tightly perfect! Remember to breathe. Thank you, Tabatha.

Julieanne said...

What gifts you give.

"That when it looks
like you’re going backwards
you may be making progress."

This is something to breathe in and out daily.
Ah, to be present.

Linda B said...

You always make me think, Tabatha. Both are so thoughtful. I do like "I shall possess the field." Thanks!

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

How nicely these two selections fit in with all the haiku I've been reading. I especially love the selection from Wilbur's "A Milkweed"— so powerful! It has a strong flavor of the tao te ching, no?

Mary Lee said...

Thank you. Thank you.

Diane Mayr said...

Wilbur's poem is welcomed for its spareness, yet, it says so much. I also like these lines that aren't included above, Anonymous as cherubs
Over the crib of God,

Catherine said...

Thank you for sharing these gorgeous poems, Tabatha! I especially love these lines from Walking Blessing:
"...but presence
to the feel of the path on your skin,
to the way it reshapes you..."

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

Those are divine. I am especially fond of "Shatter me, great wind:/ I shall possess the field." I agree with Robyn. Ahhh.