I am trying, trying to be mindful today. I am taking time this week to reflect on the changes that are possible with this big-deal configuration of the Winter Solstice, a full Lunar Eclipse, the turn of the year and for me, soon, the turn of a half century. Not to mention, Mercury is in Retrograde.
All those words (Solstice, Eclipse, Lunar, Retrograde) seemed so potent and eternal and poetic that I was drawn to the big guns in my book shelf. Greek mythology, quantum physics, Buddha. Which put me directly in front of Kim Krause's work, where I found the inspiration I really needed. I have one of his beautiful prints to the right of my bookshelf. Kim is an incredible and literate painter who does a new body of work every couple of years and asks friends to write in response to the work. In 2007, I wrote to his Chronos+Tropos series. This year, painter and poet Ruth Wartman wrote to Grace+Nepenthe. I love all of her poems but I think this is my favorite:
House lights are up.
The play is over.
Roses, scattered.
The cast has left
its stage; soft and quiet.
Only your breathing acts
as the filler of time and space
before the theater's next
big O. Behind the curtain,
in its lush meantime
you wait, humming.
****
What I understand about this cosmic moment in time is that it is time to leave behind that which no longer serves us so that we can transform into our fuller, best selves. It is going to be revealed to us. In fact, it is happening to us, which might be why we, say, nearly wept while some happy man sang a sad song at a holiday party. Yikes.
We just need to be still and quiet and open and authentic.
We just need to wait, behind the curtain, humming.
In the lush meantime, I wait.
xoxoxo
(Thanks Ruth. Thanks Kim!)
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