Tag Archives: poetry

Shepherd

Posted on October 26, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I have a three-week break and will head home for a couple of weeks on Monday, so will be offline for a couple of days. It is a longer sabbath than normal, but it will be a long day on Monday. The wanderer is going from thought country and will find his way home as William Stafford suggested in this poem. We are each shepherded home in some fashion, at some time.

According to the silence, winter has arrived—

a special kind of winter. I, its inventor,

watch it freeze in calendars and stare

out of clocks. I do not feel its cold.

Across a certain farm evening crows go flying,

intervals of the sky that I have seen before,

the bearing of a river. I advance, a wanderer

out of thought country, that serious quiet place,

Till according to the silence all the light is gone

and according to the dark all wanderers are home.

27 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, Mindful Practice, poetry, Shepherd, spirituality, teacher as transformer, William Stafford. Bookmark the permalink.

I Go Among Trees

Posted on October 23, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I begin with an apology to followers. The email feed of those who I follow has not worked the last two days. This is the second this has happened in the last couple of months. I am not sure what has caused the malfunction at the junction, but I will look into it this weekend after my classes wrap up for the week.

Wendell Berry wrote this poem about taking time and waiting for the right time to do the work. It has been busy and I will have time with a three-week break from classes to sit among the trees hopefully literally and figuratively

I go among the trees and sit still

All my stirring becomes quiet

around me like circles on water.

My tasks lie in their places

Where I left them, asleep like cattle…

Then what is afraid of me comes

and lives a while in my sight.

What it fears in me leaves me,

and the fear of me leaves it.

It sings, and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes.

I live for a while in its sight.

What I fear in it leaves it,

And the fear of it leaves me.

It sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor,

mute in my consternations,

I hear my song at last,

and I sing it. As we sing,

the day turns, the trees move.

19 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, I Go Among the Trees, Mindful Practice, poetry, teacher as transformer, Wendell Berry. Bookmark the permalink.

Natural Selection

Posted on October 22, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

The last couple of classes we talked about the way things seem to run below the surface. Life is full and richer due to paradox. What happens below the surface goes unnoticed. It is interesting to examine events that seem chance and realize they emerged out of necessity. Frequently, we acknowledge in the retrospective rear-view mirror.

Alan Shapiro wrote this poem which has multiple meanings, but I found it speaks to life lived.

proceeds by chance

and necessity

becomes nonrandom

through randomness

builds complexity

from simplicity

nurtures consciousness

unconsciously

evolves purposely

creatures who demand

purpose

and discover

natural selection

7 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged Alan Shapiro. Natural Selection, creativity, Mindful Practice, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

The Need to Win

Posted on October 19, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Yesterday, I was writing and getting ready for class this morning. I pulled The Promise of Paradox by Parker Palmer off the shelf and looked for a reference. When I opened the book, it was to the page with this poem on it. When I focus on the need to win, as Chuang Tzu suggested, I am drained of power and divided against myself. The way to victory is to let go of the chase for victory and the avoidance of defeat.

We talked about the binary world we live in. Winning and losing are part of this binary. They sit at extremes and point in opposite directions. When I let go of and let myself enter the between space, I find my way better.

Take care and enjoy Sabbath.

When an archer is shooting for nothing

He has all the skill.

If he shoots for a brass buckle

He is already nervous.

If he shoots for a prize of gold

He goes blind

Or sees two targets—

He is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed. But the prize

Divides him. He cares.

He thinks more of winning

Than of shooting—

And the need to win

Drains him of power.

15 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged Chuang-Tzu, creativity, leadership, Mindful Practice, Parker Palmer, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, The Tao. Bookmark the permalink.

The Rest

Posted on October 17, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I struggled for sometime with the concept of being retired, so to speak. I reflected on the concept. The etymological roots of retire come through the French–retirer–which connects with the idea of shoot, throw, and draw. It means to re-shoot or start over again which has a much different meaning than I had applied before. I am starting over, but with much support and it is a good place to be. It is good to begin this part of the journey without reservation which is the way I am fashioning retire today.

Lawrence Rabb wrote of waiting because we are too young and not doing because we are too old. My current concept of retire looks at the possibility that lies ahead.

You’ve tried the rest,

You’ve waited long enough.

Everything catches up with you.

And you’re too old,

or too young.

Or you don’t have the money

or you don’t have the time.

Maybe you’re shy, and maybe

you’re just afraid.

How often have you heard it,

have you promised

yourself you’d try

something really different

if you had a chance?

Though you can’t help but wonder

if all those people

know what they’re doing, now

you’re saying it with them:

Eventually everything

catches up with us,

and it starts to show.

We’ve waited all our lives, or as long

as we can remember, whichever

is long enough.

22 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Lawrence Rabb, Mindful Practice, poetry, teacher as transformer, The Rest. Bookmark the permalink.

The Sunset

Posted on October 14, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

There is an interdependence I often lose track of in life when I get busy. It was nice to get away from the reading and writing for a few days. Black Elk, a holy man of the Oglala Lakota, said these words many years ago and they resonate with me today.

I recognize that interconnectedness when I allow myself to find a higher vantage point. My daily life, surrounded with by busyness, focuses me on the particulars. The spiritual vantage point, which elevates me, allows me to see sometimes the fuller circle.

Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all,

And round beneath me was the whole hoop of the world

And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell

And I understood more than I saw

For I was seeing in the sacred manner the shape of all things of the spirit!

And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that make one circle, wide as daylight and starlight,

And in the center grew one mighty flowering tree.

12 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged Black Elk, community, creativity, Mindful Practice, nature, Oglala Lakota, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, The Sunset. Bookmark the permalink.

The Blessing

Posted on October 10, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I begin an extended Sabbath tomorrow morning with a three-day retreat. It has been a productive week and it feels good to take a break from the reading and writing.

I came across this poem by James Wright yesterday. It speaks about the gifts and blessings I miss when I are not attentive. Part of the progress has been a result of good conversations which, at every turn, seem to add something new to the thinking needed to move forward. By looking at what is there, I find what I search for and blossom.

Just off the highway to Rochester Minnesota,

Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.

And the eyes of those two Indian ponies

Darken within kindness.

They have come gladly out of the willows

To welcome my friend and me.

We step over barbed wire into the pasture

Where they have been grazing all day, alone.

They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness

That we have come.

They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.

There is no loneliness like theirs.

At home once more,

They begin munching the young tuffs of spring in the darkness.

I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,

For she has walked over to me

And nuzzled my left hand.

She is black and white,

Her mane falls wild on her forehead,

And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear

That is as delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.

Suddenly I realize

That if I stepped out of my body I would break

Into blossom.

21 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, James Wright, Mindful Practice, poetry, sabbath, teacher as transformer, The Blessing. Bookmark the permalink.

[HOW MANY MOMENTS MUST (AMAZING EACH]

Posted on October 10, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I enjoy e. e. cummings‘ poetry. I read it several times and it reminded me of my other reading today. I read Alfred North Whitehead for part of the afternoon. It has been pretty circular as well, but at the end it comes to the same point. Life is full of uncertainty and mystery which is what is worth embracing. A good portion of life is missed if I am not attentive and mindful of the world.

how many moments must(amazing each

how many centuries)these more than eyes

restroll and stroll some never deepening beach

locked in foreverish time’s tide at poise,

love alone understands:only for whom

i’ll keep my tryst until that tide shall turn;

and from all selfsubtracting hugely doom

treasures of reeking innocence are born.

Then, with not credible the anywhere

eclipsing of a spirit’s ignorance

by every wisdom knowledge fears to dare,

how the(myself’s own self who’s)child will dance!

and when he’s plucked such mysteries as men

do not conceive–let ocean grow again

6 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged Alfred North Whitehead, creativity, ee cummings, leadership, Mindful Practice, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

The Week End

Posted on October 6, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I was sitting in the library this afternoon and this began to form first in my head then on the screen. Usually, there is an intermediate phase and I jot something down. This was more spontaneous than normal and I think it is a bit rough around the edges, but I liked it when I re-read it.

The week end–

Sabbath arrives;

I disconnect–

I find new rhythm;

Here, I am soul full–

Here, my soul retrieves me.

It’s a mystery–

Reveals undefinable spaciousness;

Sans mots–

Without sound, it rescues me;

Yet, I hear its voice–

It offers refuge;

It guides me home.

17 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, The Week Ends. Bookmark the permalink.

The Red Wheel Barrow

Posted on October 4, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

When I make life complicated, it becomes more complicated and entangled. I felt rushed this afternoon. I have class, I needed to finish two papers, and wanted to do some reading. I took a deep breath and it got simpler. I uncomplicated my day by letting go a bit and seeing what was important right in front of me.

When I step back a bit and let life find its path, it becomes much simpler. This does not deny life’s complexity, but complexity and complicated are different. The first looks for patterns and the other ties knots around and among things. Complexity is in many ways reflected in the mirror of a simple life and what it reveals. Sometimes it is the obvious things that are right there in front of me only waiting to be acknowledged like a red wheel barrow.

In a few words, William Carlos Williams brings to life the simplicity in life which helps me wend my way through the complex relationships and patterns.

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens.