Month: April 2024

We are too old to speak of things

that hold no consequence; let us turn

from the strident thieves of joy

to walk in chosen silence 

through the flowered fields 

and notice how the heron 

and eagle contemplate the river’s offerings 

while a hatch of midges rises 

from the water’s edge, each life catching light, 

starring the shadows, a twinkling meal

for the swift darting swallows. 

And observe how the dragonflies 

mate in merry flight, as though they

hear a windsong we cannot.

Let us not give the breath of our years

to the darkness clouding these times, 

but recall how we, too, were lifted by light

that day we met—

and didn’t we lie in the dandelions 

spangling the green hill?

I know we watched the river flow

and laughed in the dappled shade 

of dancing leaves, till fireflies

sparkled in the deepening purple dusk, 

and the moon offered her golden breast 

to nurse the lonely night.

And will we see, finally,

how every moment pierces the next 

with the power and gift of its life and death,

how the meaning we confer on each of them,

every moment of our lives,

arises from our awareness, 

our willingness to notice,

our choice to defer its anxious naming,

to ride on the endless flow of time and grace,

expand, and listen to the song

beneath the song?

We are too old to speak of things

that hold no consequence; 

let us set down all our words. 

Here is a green hill glittering 

with dew-drenched dandelions,

and can you hear the windsong?

Come, rest in my arms,

and we’ll soar again like dragonflies,

riding on the endless flow of time and grace

in joy, our consequential beginning and end. 

© Copyright of all visual and written materials on The Daily Round belongs solely to Catherine M. O’Meara, 2011-Present. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited, without the author’s written approval. No one is authorized to use Catherine O’Meara’s copyrighted material for material gain without the author’s engagement and written permission. All other visual, written, and linked materials are credited to their authors. Thank you, and gentle peace.

The infinite variety of spring weather has reminded me how quickly change arrives, establishes itself, and moves us along to new perspectives. 

We’ve enjoyed peaceful canoe trips down the sun-sparkling river, hiked in snowfalls at the park and along the trail, and sighed through rainy days from cozy indoor sofas and cushions. (But we are utterly thankful for every drop of moisture we receive, and relishing each cool day and night, knowing drought and heat may visit soon.)

And the spring blossoms continue erupting in their joyful rising, no matter how the weather pleases or torments them, and because of this, they are my current teachers of choice.

Our news is besieged by dark and threatening politics, once again, and I’ve renewed my commitment to the practices that anchor my hope and peace most reliably: meditation, exercise, writing, listening, noticing, reading books and viewing programs that nourish my spirit, and staying in touch with my beloved and profound friends, who continually replenish the love I experience and am able to share. And laughing, a lot.

Phillip and I have been seeking new hiking adventures every week, and celebrating our sweet life with the four-leggeds as simply and deeply as our gratitude deserves. This week, we had a merry party on Easter, and again on Phillip’s birthday, and every day begins with our Morning Party for the pups. (Well, actually, morning begins with Murphy-time, when we lavish love on our dear boy and let him know he’s precious and remarkable. It’s hard to believe he may be our last cat, after decades with many fine felines enriching and sharing our lives.)

Such light-filled acts remind us that we can reject the stories telling us how horrible and hopeless the world and its people are; we can choose to see and join the heroes and heroines among us, the people creating positive changes, the fighters and helpers who know good change can come from good trouble. Life isn’t easy at all, but beauty, love, and hope are always ours for the taking and sharing, while we protect our own vision of the world we’re creating.

Like the spring blossoms, our right to live in loving contentment and be the hopeful, joyful people we are by nature, will not be dampened by the storms of those so damaged by life that they can only seek to spread their pain and ignorance, threatening to overwhelm us with their lies, darkness, and frankly, boring visions. As with winter’s snow storms, the time of hate and its depressing adherents is passing, and a season of color and change is coming. It needs our focus, awareness, and continual support to be realized.

Spring blooms may appear fragile, but their ability to weather ice, snow, rain, and freezing sleet belies that appearance. Let us be the buds withstanding the cold and misery to rise, resilient and brilliant in our necessary rainbow of blossoming, as strong as steel, as life-giving as hope, and as enduring as democracy.

© Copyright of all visual and written materials on The Daily Round belongs solely to Catherine M. O’Meara, 2011-Present. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited, without the author’s written approval. No one is authorized to use Catherine O’Meara’s copyrighted material for material gain without the author’s engagement and written permission. All other visual, written, and linked materials are credited to their authors. Thank you, and gentle peace.