Every morning I walk like this around
the pond, thinking: if the doors of my heart
ever close, I am as good as dead.
Every morning, so far, I’m alive. And now
the crows break off from the rest of the darkness
and burst up into the sky–as though
all night they had thought of what they would like
their lives to be, and imagined
their strong, thick wings.
~Mary Oliver, in “Landscape,” New and Selected Poems, Volume One
In the stillness,
Sandy
Welcome to the Still Saturday Community where we pause after a busy week, move in quiet pilgrimage, maybe linger a while in some still place, and soak in the beauty of images and words. We’d love for you to join us. Get the details on the left, grab your favorite button, and link up below. We all love to hear if something especially speaks to your heart, but please don’t feel pressured to comment. Simply take some time to gaze long and drink deep.
NOTE 2/24/14: As you may have noticed, Linky Tools had a major hard drive and backup failure over the weekend. Everything is fixed and running now, but images posted prior (from December 2013) have so far not been recovered–and doing so may be impossible. The links, however, still work. The service owner has set new safeguards in place and begs prayers and forgiveness. So sorry for the inconvenience.
all night they had thought of what they would like
their lives to be …
Lovely! that beautiful gift of God ~ imagining…
And too often we’re afraid to let the wings of our imagination fly…
Life gets hard and hurts – and it makes me sometimes just want to stop – but this poem nails it – if I stop loving I am not living!
“If the doors of my heart ever close…” Yeah, that really jumped out at me.
Wonderful poem and pictures!
The Linkup will for me not working, it seems to be a global problem: three memes that I tried today, was not working…
My post:
http://maschas-buch.blogspot.de/2014/02/invitation.html
Have a quiet weekend
So sorry, my friend. Yes, the Linky Tools hard drive died this weekend. Hopefully things are all better for next week.
That first image is especially striking. Both are beautiful accompaniments to the poem.
Thanks, Susan. I love how they turned out. 🙂
“Every morning, so far, I’m alive.” Love that! Know that feeling. =) Cool photos, Sandy. xox
Ha! Let’s keep hoping there are many every mornings for us. 🙂
What excellent pictures to illustrate this poem. (Which makes me want to go walk around the pond today in the stillness (except for the crows).
🙂
Just really cool… but crows sometime I wonder what has gotten into them. It’s probably from staying up all night.
That could definitely be their probably, Dea. And maybe they have guilty consciences from their escapades. You know a group is called a “murder,” right? 😉
Love the poem, and those photos? Very cool!
Love Mary Oliver! And thanks on the photos.
Oh, this is simply beautiful, Sandra. You are beautiful. 🙂 And this site? I know it’s been a long while since I’ve hopped over here, or much anywhere. Time…Sigh.
I’m not sure how long you’ve had your new site, but it’s absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks so much, sweet friend. The redecorating unveiled on Valentine’s Day with love from Lyla Lindquist. 🙂
What a beautiful post! And I loved the photos. Your simple post today is speaking stillness to my heart…
GOD BLESS!
(I couldn’t get the thumbnail to work yesterday or today, so I linked up using the generic Linky Tool icon. Not so pretty, but wanted to still join the party. Hopefully, whatever’s going on will be fixed shortly…)
I didn’t even know you could use a generic Linky Tool. Linky Tool’s hard drive disintegrated/blew up/burned up/died or something. It’s fixed now, so should be back in order next week. So far, they’re still trying to reclaim a couple months’ worth of images…but the links all work. So sorry for the inconvenience, Sharon. 🙁
Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem. Have a lovely weekend!
Thanks, Barbie!
Really like this. Thank you, Sandra. 🙂
Thanks so much, Jason.
I need to imagine my strong, thick wings.
Thank you, dear sister-friend, for this.
Thank you, dear sister-friend, for helping keep my wings strong.
Hi Sandra, couldn’t find the link up today. Anyway always enjoy popping over and the stillness.
The linkup was broken for awhile. Sorry for the inconvenience, but so glad you popped over.
Beautiful poem! Thanks for hosting & God bless.
Thanks for being so faithful, Laurie.
What a beautiful poem! How very true … if the doors of our hearts ever close, we are as good as dead. So grateful that this morning I am alive. May He keep my heart open & ever feeling. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this poem!
Blessings,
Joanne
Praying our heart doors stay wide open. Love to you, Joanne.