Thursday, December 8, 2022

Quiet mystery

Art is for healing ourselves, and everybody needs their own personal art to heal up their problems.
~Linda Ronstadt



For Poetry Friday, a poem by Linnea Nelson:

Healing the Pasture
by Linnea Nelson

On our friends’ sheep farm, you pull the half-birthed

sac from a petrified ewe, jostling the slippery form and begging

C’mon little one, wake up, c’mon, c’mon. It lies

motionless, blue, in a mess of blood and amniotic membrane

and there is an impossible stretch of abject moment

during which we acknowledge the newborn is dead. As you

cease your coaxing and compressions,

it splutters, breathes, bleats to the mother

who calls back, and the lamb lives.

When a pasture is left

alone—not required to grow anything—it is said...


read the rest here

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More Art 4 All has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Michelle!

Terrain.org info for high school teachers and others

9 comments:

laurasalas said...

Wow. I was holding my breath. What a relief. "Oh, quiet
mystery" indeed. Thanks for sharing this, Tabatha.

Linda B said...

The way she shows us in new ways, like "the wind stopping itself in my hair" is breath-taking, Tabatha. Thanks for this poet new to me. Have a lovely weekend!

Anonymous said...

O, Tabatha, Appreciations.

Following this poet-new-to-me to her surprising poem end, I felt refreshed.
It's soothing to think of a pasture expected to Just. Be.

And of course, joy for the lambkin. I wonder how old it must be now. [I hope it didn't become veal, but that's just me.] Recently I ordered a passel of handmade wool socks for gifts & I'm hoping that's what the herd is all about.

Jan/Bookseedstudio said...

Anonymous of

"O Tabatha, Appreciations."

is Jan/Bookseedstudio [frequently I'm glitchy at leaving comments.]


Happy Weekend!

Michelle Kogan said...

Such an interesting journey of thoughts this poem takes us on–both tender and piercing at the same time. Thanks for introducing me to Linnea Nelson, and to Terrain, Tabatha!

Susan T. said...

That's a beautiful poem. I was afraid, too, for the lamb, and the feeling of relief heightens the rest of the poem.

Patricia Franz said...

Words of hope, Tabatha - which, I think must accompany healing, right? Thank you for this poem.

Mary Lee said...

Hooray for hope and for healing!

Karen Edmisten said...

Oh, this piece is lovely. As I read, I was heartbroken, then buoyed, and then, with the poet, content and full. Such hope here. ❤️