A moment of quiet in the storm

Christine talks about the unsettling news from Pakistan, and about the need for a bit of calm in all the violence that the world seems intent on producing sometimes. I was deeply saddened by the news of the assassination as well, and decided to "light a candle" over at gratefulness.org. (And check out the rest of the site, including a virtual labyrinth and some thoughts on peace...)

Oh, and thanks to Don, over at Country Contemplative, for introducing me to the site in the first place.

Morning's cup of tea

I have a somewhat battered infuser - the kind that looks like a measuring cup. It's been camping with me and exactly fits my camping mug. This morning, I pull it out, and tip a scant teaspoon of Earl Grey in, then just smell the leaves, all brown and small at the bottom of the mesh cup. Mmmm. Citrus and tea...

And then, the magic of hot water from the coffeemaker, and slowly, those small brown leaves bloom, become soft and full, transforming and being transformed by the water. My scant teaspoon of dry leaves is now a plump tablespoon of glistening tea leaves, and there are more colors - various shades of reddish brown with hints of green, and even one leaf that is now a sort of celadon.

The light is returning, the new year coming, and I have a beautiful cup of tea. May the new year be filled with such pleasures for us all.

My imaginary life: Writer's Island

Earlier this week, I attended a lecture sponsored by a group interested in the future of space science, and they brought in a Nobel Prize winner who had helped to map some of what we think might be the history of the universe. It was fascinating, especially when he talked about how so much of what is in the world today is the leftover bits of exploding stars.

And I couldn't help but think then about what it is to be made of stardust, each of us, the air we breathe, the planet we cling to... we are the same stuff as those perpetual lights that give us hope in the dark night. Do we choose to take our place in the celestial dance?

The lecture went on to talk about a new telescope that is being built with origami folds to bloom like a flower when it is launched far into space, but I was still gliding on intergalactic winds, wishing I could bring the world with me into the star filled night.

My stardust hands
reach to you,
a similar galactic swirl,
child of the cosmos,
leftover debris
of a SUPERNOVA

Your sad eyes remind me
of drifting cold space,
eternities of darkness,
hoping for starlight
to shine through you
Illuminating a new planet

http://writersisland.wordpress.com/ Thanks to Rae for introducing me to yet another prompt...

A poem.

Scraped raw, I tremble
Caught in the earthquake
As vision blurs and tears fall

Will they fall forever in a river to the sea?
Will my trembling shake the Earth below
Or maybe the sky above...

Will my heart crumble like sandstone
Before the salt wave of my tears?
Or will I arise, washed clean?

Even if I cried a river all the way to the sea
It would not be barren forever.
Dolphins would come to see what it was.

And maybe they would leap in the air,
Turning the water to a thousand diamonds
Flashing in the sun.

And when the sandstone crumbles,
That is the place where spring comes,
And the buttercups echo the sun.