Greetings Friends!
This morning I went on a hunt for poetry. I searched for words that
might have been written in 1918 when the Spanish flu epidemic was raging in
this country. I don’t know what I thought I would find but find something I
did. September 1918 was written by Amy Lowell who was an American
writer, editor, translator and performer who dedicated her life to the cause of
modern poetry. Her thoughts apply more to World War 1 as seen in line 9.
However, I found it to be a lovely encouragement to appreciate the blessings
that are ours this day and to remember that the difficulties of this present
time won’t last forever.
This afternoon was the color
of water falling through sunlight;
The trees glittered with
the tumbling of leaves;
The sidewalks shone like
alleys of dropped maple leaves,
And the houses ran along
them laughing out of square, open windows.
Under a tree in the
park,
Two little boys, lying
flat on their faces,
Were carefully gathering
red berries
To put in a pasteboard
box.
Some day there will be
no war,
Then I shall take out
this afternoon
And turn it in my
fingers,
And remark the sweet
taste of it upon my palate,
And note the crisp
variety of its flights of leaves.
To-day I can only gather
it
And put it into my
lunch-box,
For I have time for nothing
But the endeavor to
balance myself
Upon a broken world.
In the middle of this last week I was at that place of “endeavoring
to balance myself” and I was failing miserably. Thankfully, texting with
friends and phoning my mother helped me get closer to being in balance. I will
admit that I am better at telling others to reach out, than at reaching out
myself, but none of us needs to go it alone.
So how are you doing? We are all dealing with some level of
anxiety and it can be exhausting. Please make sure you are taking care of
yourself and if you find that you need someone to cheer you on, please reach
out.
