Gifted

[greenstorm]

Poetry hasn't been coming for me, but today this one found me via a photograph posted on fb. I think I'll print it out and put it on my fridge awhile.

"For One Who Is Exhausted, a Blessing"

You have been forced to enter the empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken for the race of days.
At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.
You have travelled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of colour
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having earned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.

John O'Donohue

It reminds me a little of the Desiderata, which I remember finding over the old internet long ago. Perhaps that's also due a reread.

Comments

[graydon2]

I like this one.