Hearing the Pilgrim’s Call

So many moments in these so many days
living in “lock down,” and “socially separated,”
while the trilling waxwings gather
to strip the mountain ash of their fermented berries,
the geese returned now flock together on thin iced ponds,
the pussy willows shyly reveal their soft inner grey.

Today again I wake to a dusting of snow and
the wind blowing cold from the north.
They say again, the coldest April in forty years,
just as the wettest July in forty, and coldest last February, too.
(Something biblical in those forty years…)

So many glimpses of Life’s natural rhythms,
a reassuring comfort
in this encircling return
in this history making time.

So many times I ask inside, out loud
What is my place?
What do I do to help?
How am I to be?

And I hear
Make your life your prayer.
Notice and name the good, the true, the beautiful.
Keep your heart open in hell.

You were born for these times.
Now let’s get going.
Walk on.

– KW –
April 18, 2020

 

Inspired by my participation in the online study gathering, “The Soul of a Pilgrim,” hosted by The Abbey of the Arts, April – May, 2020.