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.
The image of the rivers and trees absorbing the “past’s poison” because they can “take it”…powerful.
Thank you, Susie…
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.
Diana, we’ve many allies on such days, many of the non-human persuasion…
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.
Thanks for stopping by, Debbie…I too love those wildflowers and blue skies…
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.
thanks for the reminder John…loved the “moon shinning” metaphor.