The gift of poetry in resetting our lives
HIT RESET
Slow. Stop.
Take a deep breath
Stand stock still.
Hit reset.
Here is the day
Cherish the night
Notice your life
As it’s passing by.
+ Martin Wroe, from ‘Julian of Norwich’s teabag’, Wild Goose Publications, 2022
Poetry is brilliant for pressing the reset button.
It unlocks things we didn’t know were locked yet does it without a sledgehammer.
While it gently opens our inner world to the fresh air of hope and life.
THE FAWN
(After Mary Oliver’s ‘Wild Geese’)
You do not have to win at a crisis.
You do not have to push yourself
to learn a new language or write a book
or take up an instrument.
Nothing will come of forcing yourself
to compete your way out of trauma.
Take this time to look at the stars.
Take this time to look at how the sky
still holds clouds that are the shape of hope.
How the dawn begins at the tips of dewy grass,
for this is where the horizon begins.
Somewhere the dappled fawn raises
her soft neck to watch the sun rise
over her meadow.
Somewhere else monarch butterflies begin
their long migration, knowing many of them
will not make it home.
Remember that you do not need to earn
your right to the precious minutes you have
on this planet. They are already yours,
like the fawn and the butterflies.
The universe beckons you to enjoy this life
it has given you through a heart
that beats to the rhythm of
its very own cosmic song.
+ Nikita Gill, from 'Where Hope Comes From: Poems of Resilience, Healing and Light,' Trapeze, part of The Orion Publishing Group, 2021
Senior Lecturer in History and Futures at University of the Sunshine Coast
2 年Love the poetry that incites stillness ??
The Ikigai Guy ?? ? Author of the soon to be released 'The Ikigai Way'
2 年Beautiful.
Mentoring women committed to shaping & sharing their story to engage, enliven, heal & unbalance the status quo.
2 年Just like what we were taught as children before crossing a street: Stop. Look. Listen. I can hear the burbling from over here Sue Heatherington.The poetry is extra. ??
Communication & Storytelling Consultant for Quiet, Conscientious Freelancers & Small Business Owners ? Developing & Implementing Core Communication Skills in a Marketing Strategy that Works - for You & Your Business
2 年What a beautiful gift for the weekend Sue! Thanks ??