21 August 2007

Carving Out a Path

In which the un-Fairy Tale currently in progress is interrupted for a poem, which will make much sense when our tale resumes.



From a Woman's Life
by Maura Eichner


What Mary knew was just
enough for the usual day;
pull water, flint fire, bake
bread, smile, pray

the dark orations, sleep, wake
wait. When pain honed a nerve,
when birth or dying clotted
an hour, she leaned to the curve

of living, resilient to fear,
laughter, suffering.
Partings are a little death.
Each one's journey is a thing

wholly without precedent.
She looked at the sky
for compass. None. She, too,
created a road to travel by.

4 comments:

  1. Ah, the compass. Sometimes we have it. Sometimes the clouds obscure it. But knowing that North is still there, I guess it's a bit of hope.

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  2. looking forward to hearing about this road you are carving out, mary..... :)

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  3. I love this line: "Each one's journey is a thing / wholly without precedent." Sometimes that is so incredibly daunting, isn't it? But like two sides of the same coin, it's so incredibly marvelous. Our God is so creative to have made it that way, and also so great in His capacity to contain each of us just as we are: wholly unique. I love it.

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  4. LL -- I love how you reference true North here. Mary may not have had a precedent against which to measure her decision, but I'm willing to bet she knew where True North was.

    Blue -- It's coming, I promise. I've got a saved draft. And it all ties in ...

    Christianne -- That is one of the pieces that stuck out to me as well. No one has walked in our shoes before; no one has faced the specific choices & challenges we face as individual children of God. Both daunting, overwhelming, and altogether amazing. God's unique thumbprint in each of us.

    This is why I LOVE poetry!! Different people can come to the same poem & find varying meanings in it. I look forward to hearing more responses ...

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