2 little whos
(he and she)
under are this
wonderful tree
smiling stand
(all realms of where
and when beyond)
now and here
(far from a grown
-up i&you-
ful world of known)
who and who
(2 little ams
and over them this
aflame with dreams
incredible is)
Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin
Perhaps to love is to learn
to walk through this world.
To learn to be silent
like the oak and the linden of the fable.
To learn to see.
Your glance scattered seeds.
It planted a tree.
I talk
because you shake its leaves.
Kindness glides about my house.
Dame Kindness, she is so nice!
The blue and red jewels of her rings smoke
In the windows, the mirrors
Are filling with smiles.
What is so real as the cry of a child?
A rabbit’s cry may be wilder
But it has no soul.
Sugar can cure everything, so Kindness says.
Sugar is a necessary fluid,
Its crystals a little poultice.
O kindness, kindness
Sweetly picking up pieces!
My Japanese silks, desperate butterflies,
May be pinned any minute, anesthetized.
And here you come, with a cup of tea
Wreathed in steam.
The blood jet is poetry,
There is no stopping it.
You hand me two children, two roses.
Today when persimmons ripen
Today when fox-kits come out of their den into snow
Today when the spotted egg releases its wren song
Today when the maple sets down its red leaves
Today when windows keep their promise to open
Today when fire keeps its promise to warm
Today when someone you love has died
or someone you never met has died
Today when someone you love has been born
or someone you will not meet has been born
Today when rain leaps to the waiting of roots in their dryness
Today when starlight bends to the roofs of the hungry and tired
Today when someone sits long inside his last sorrow
Today when someone steps into the heat of her first embrace
Today, let this light bless you
With these friends let it bless you
With snow-scent and lavender bless you
Let the vow of this day keep itself wildly and wholly
Spoken and silent, surprise you inside your ears
Sleeping and waking, unfold itself inside your eyes
Let its fierceness and tenderness hold you
Let its vastness be undisguised in all your days
With what attentive courtesy he bent
Over his instrument;
Not as a lordly conquerer who could
Command both wire and wood,
But as a man with a loved woman might,
Inquiring with delight
What slight essential things she had to say
Before they started, he and she, to play.
In this inspiring episode, we explore the profound power of gratitude and how it can transform our lives. Set on a beautiful September day in South Texas, we reflect on the everyday gifts that surround us—like a gentle breeze, a gecko changing color, or a delicious cup of coffee. These small, often overlooked moments hold immense value.
Through the wisdom of poets like Mary Oliver and Rumi, we dive deep into how gratitude helps us heal from grief. We’ll discuss how moving toward gratitude brings peace and helps us see the loved ones we’ve lost as eternal gifts that remain with us always. We also explore how gratitude fosters humility, strengthens our relationships, and allows love to flow freely into and out of our lives.
Join us as we navigate the journey from grief to healing, uncovering the beauty in the everyday and embracing love as the greatest gift of all.
Keywords: gratitude, healing, gifts, grief, love, Mary Oliver, Rumi, humility, peace, spiritual growth, South Texas, poetry
George Traki
In the dark many bird voices call,
The trees and the springs murmur noisily,
In the clouds a rose-colored glow sounds
Like early love’s distress. The night blues away –
With shy hands the twilight softly polishes
The love lair, feverishly stirred up,
And lets the drunkenness of languished kisses end
In dreams, smiling and felt half-awake.
“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.” ~ Oscar Wilde
Eberhard Arnold
See how the bee-people swarm together –
what perfect oneness they display!
They build and serve and work as one.
With “mine” and “thine” they do away.
When they return to nurse their young,
then, too, they are completely one.
They share the harvest of each blossom,
and none lives for himself alone.
Bees know the impulse of true oneness –
a wondrous sign of community.
A people of love, they toil as one,
and none is left out of their unity.
