This is going to be another blog post where I let someone else’s poem say what I might have said in my wordy Wendy way. And look…my wordy Wendy-ness has its place but when there is a lot of noise out there, I like to share quiet voices! And there’s some photos of moments that I lingered here in Nepal! Clearly I am drawn to mountains and magenta! I hope the labels for the photos aren’t too intrusive. Just pretend they aren’t there when you read the poem for the first time!
No surprises for guessing which poet I am quoting…a long time favourite…
The poem is The Day I Didn’t Want More by the divine Rosemerry Wahtola Tommer:
Strolling slow beside a slow silty river
in the desert,
marveling for hours at how green the land is after a month of remarkable rain.
Marveling how sage brush branches bend
beneath the weight of great flowering fronds.
(Looking north to the Himalayan range, my view from the plane heading east)
How low-angled light makes
strands of spider silk shine—
and the shine is all around us.
It has taken me decades
to want to learn
what Mary Oliver means when she writes,
“Oh do you have time to linger?”
(Magical magenta makmalle garlands ready for the Bhai tikka celebration in Tihar)
After scaling steep peaks and training for races,
after pushing myself to go farther, go faster, after rushing to do whatever I think I am here to do,
I now long to be a lingerer,
a dawdler,
a straggler,
one who celebrates the glory in the white froth of rabbitbrush gone to seed,
one who follows foam trails emerging
from rapids until they disappear.
(Mountains of magnificent dragon fruit, with rich red interiors.)
I want to be the ridiculous one,
the strange person staring at sky
with tears sliding down my cheeks
because I finally understand that
whatever else I am here to do,
I am also here to stand beneath blue
on a November afternoon.
I am here to learn loving the world
is in service to life itself.
(Towers of terra cotta oil lamps, some stamped with intricate designs)
That among other things,
I am here to rest my body against a sun-heated rock
and feel the warmth slip deeper into my being.
(When did zippers ever look so riotously glorious?)
A trip to Nepal always means lots of reading! I read and adored Whistler by Ann Patchett and Land by Maggie O’Farrell.. I am not sure if enjoyed is the right word for The Names by Florence Knapp but it was a powerful read, well written and I am very glad I read it. I’ve just started Partita by Barbara Kingsolver and The Heart of Understanding by Thich Nhat Hanh. And there’s still lots on the Kindle so I should be right for reading!.
And, after patiently waiting since I first read about it, I am loving listening to Dan Sultan’s new album Little Miracles…he sounds like he is having fun and his voice is like honey!