Aphelion

It was a day that demanded more strength than he
owned, a day that called for occasion-appropriate
language like bullshit and to-hell-with-it, the kind
of day often referred to as full of poignant suffering.
It was a day when life threw a crowbar in his spine
and said you’re gonna have to dance alone on this
one but when the music slows and you’ve wept for
a spell then you’ll know in the bones of your feet that
a little more of the past’s poison was absorbed by
the rivers and trees (who can take it), and you’ll sleep
with the moon shining clear and sweet on your face.
 
 
*Aphelion – the point in the year when the Earth is at its farthest distance from the Sun.

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8 Comments

  1. Susie Finkbeiner on July 7, 2012 at 3:00 pm

    The image of the rivers and trees absorbing the “past’s poison” because they can “take it”…powerful.

  2. pastordt on July 7, 2012 at 5:02 pm

    I’ve had a few days like this of late and I think you for this reminder that the ‘past’s poison’ can be sent somewhere better suited to it than my soul. Thank you.

    • thebeautifuldue on July 7, 2012 at 10:03 pm

      Diana, we’ve many allies on such days, many of the non-human persuasion…

  3. Debbie Christian on July 8, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    Lovely piece, John. I feel for those who stay enclosed under ceilings and artificial light for days on end, not realizing the earth longs to bear their burdens. And I know full well I’m blessed to live in Colorado, where the wildflowers and wild blue skies beckon me come out to them, often against my will. But I go, and it’s good.

    • thebeautifuldue on July 8, 2012 at 3:18 pm

      Thanks for stopping by, Debbie…I too love those wildflowers and blue skies…

  4. patriciaspreng on July 8, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    I’m sharing this one with a dear friend of mine who is approaching the 4th anniversary of his wife’s death… oh to weep for a spell, when you cannot see your way back, and then to know you weren’t ever alone. This one has made me cry.

  5. genesmith12 on July 9, 2012 at 10:44 pm

    thanks for the reminder John…loved the “moon shinning” metaphor.

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