A hurricane approaches and we’ve already witnessed one thunderstorm. The dog is downstairs hiding. I’ve been at my desk most of the day, not writing but working on my website and preparing for a weekend retreat for yoga teachers on zoom: Yoga Nidra and Sacred Writing.
I began the day with walking. Circle Walking I call it because it is not out and back but walking around the church next door. I haven’t measured the distance around but it is short. The eagles have disappeared and it was in the eighties by eight o’clock. While I walked this morning I listened to a Podcast On Being with Krista Tippett interviewing Ellen Davis and Wendell Berry: The Art of Being Creatures. It made my heart sing to hear Berry read his poems interlaced with theological discussion regarding humans and the land and other beings. Eating as Practical Theology .
How to Be a Poet by Wendell Berry (to remind myself) Make a Place to sit down./ Sit down. Be quiet./ You must depend upon affection,…
He reminded me: There are no unsacred places;/ there are only sacred places/ and desecrated places… Accept what comes from silence…
And during this pandemic, these uncertain times, Breathe with unconditional breath/ the unconditional air…
I’m reminded to step back in the circle. How long have I been outside? It was only a few days ago I realized I was absent from that place where poetry, the reading and writing, keeps me vital and vibrant. Today I stepped back in the circle while walking in circles listening to the art of making poems, and poems circling with me. And of course you already know this… but how one poems leads to another and another.