Views from Raven's Nest: Daily Reminder # 38

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Daily Reminder # 38

Just a brief thought and then a poem tonight.

I was watching the late afternoon sun on the hosta bush today, and I started thinking about light and shadow. Light and shadow are partners, each giving beauty and depth to the other. We tend to fear and revile what we think of as shadow aspects of ourselves, but they are as beautiful as the light... and the enrich the radiance of the light. Or that's what I think.

Two poems to honor E's request.

My reality is of my own making
But I forget, being human,
And wandering in vanished universes
Become confused
Succumb to moments
Instead of eternities
Believe in limits
Not limitlessness

My reality is of my own making
Moment by moment
I create my self
In shades of light and dark
Joy and sorrow -
But like an artist blindfolded
Refusing to concede her skill

My reality is of my own making
I sculpt my life
From thoughts and hopes and hidden fears
Molding and remolding
In search of some as yet unknown perfection

My reality is of my own making
A play continually in progress
Each actor working with a different script
Improvising as she goes along
To make the plot more interesting
Until some denouement can be achieved

My reality is of my own making
Although I close my eyes
And try to abnegate my power
It will not leave
But like a faithful lover
Awaits the ecstasy of mutual embrace.

- Katherine E. Rabenau

THE CALL

I too am called by inner voices
But don't know how to answer
Having grown apart from earth and sea
Yet still there is a longing with the seasons
To move
To be released again
And go unerring
Like geese against the sky
Toward some unknown
Stronger than dreams
Though woven of them
It is a primal call
But not a wild one
Heavy with the scent of fading flowers
And after rain
An empty silence
That longs to be filled
With wind-songs and greenness
And something lost

- Katherine E. Rabenau