(Photo: Fate, who is not allowed on my chair.)
“To Learn From Animal Being,” by John O’Donohue.
“Nearer to the earth’s heart,
Deeper within its silence.
Animals know this world
In a way we never will.
We who are ever
Distanced and distracted
By the parade of bright
Windows thought opens.
Stranged between time
Gone and time emerging,
we manage seldom
To be where we are;
Whereas they are always looking out
from the here and bow.
May we learn to return
And rest in the beauty
Of animal being,
Learn to lean low,
Leave our locked minds,
And with freed senses
Feel the earth
Breathing with us.”
Thank you. One of my favorites!
Stranged = Stranded
Here and bow = Here and now
And the final, evocative, stanzas:
May we enter
Into lightness of spirit,
And slip frequently into
The feel of the wild.
Let the clear silence
Of our animal being
Cleanse our hearts
Of corrosive words.
May we learn to walk
Upon the earth
With all their confidence
And clear-eyed stillness
So that our minds
Might be baptized
In the name of the wind
And the light and the rain.
I hate to be one of those internet cat people stereotypes, but can you update on the barn cats? are they healthy? catching whatever it is their job for you to catch? they have a cozy place to hang out? etc…
Sheila, no apologies necessary. I tend to rite about the animals when something interesting happens, and the barn cats are spending time in the basement this week, staying warm. You remind me to go and get a photo of them one of these days, and I will try to remember to do that.
Love the poem and especially that picture. When the picture popped up I thought “Good for Fate! I didn’t think she was allowed on the chairs!” Then I saw your caption and laughed out loud. Y’all stay warm and safe in the snowstorm hitting the northeast now. Hugs and prayers for you and Maria and all the animals.