I am tired of those
who swill their head
in a bucket and claim
there is no God or Good
or Beauty to be had.
I come from a tribe
of survivors who love life
more than the hardships
they’ve been dealt. And
we have found each other
the way rivers find the sea.
We know pain, fear and
struggle, like dark fish
nibbling at our bottom.
But have grown love, faith
and will like barnacles,
razored out of sight.
We come from under
every sort of rock: drunk,
raped, abandoned, cancered.
And as we navigate our way,
everyone trembles at the
wheel, the cost of being real.
So I’m fed up with those
who suck at the dark side
of things, complaining
they are bored, complaining
life’s a chore, complaining
there is nothing but their
chaos to applaud.
To be broken is no reason
to see all things as broken.
To fear death
is not a calling.
I have outlived a tumor
pressing on my brain, have
had my 8th rib removed, and
though I wept in the tub at the
gash in my side, at the fact that
I can be slit open so easily
like a bull pumped up for
market, I only want life
more, long to dance till
my heart sweats, till my
mind stops anticipating,
till I understand the dead
tree’s part in the design.
I long like a root, deeper
in the earth, so I can reach
farther to the sky.
So don’t tell me
there’s nothing
in your bucket.
To brush my teeth has
significance after three
weeks of lying flat. And
there’s glory in the water
from my mouth as it swirls
down the sink in rhythm
with the largest falls
I’ve never seen.
And when the missing
rib aches, I dream of
swimming naked in life’s
waters with those who
pulled me back to this
season of mystery
so many refuse.
~Mark Nepo
when suffering becomes the beginning….
inquiry for today~ your heart matters…..you create the wonderment…..
Why would it take courage to be at peace? Because it means we will see and feel it all: the compassion and the cruelty, the hope and the despair. Being at peace is about not being distracted, is about being fully present where the winds of all that is beyond our control- sometimes light breezes and at other times a tsunami- are felt.
And that takes courage. May we have the courage to be at peace.
~Oriah Mountain Dreamer
❤
Oh yes. Lots of love. May we remember.
Reblogged this on Blank Kanvas.