The Mystery of Poetry
Rhyme begins with noticing; from stillness, sometimes sounds
As chirping birds and inner words, given
Yet unable to express the silence of a springtime sunrise.
The writer eking out the meaning; ever seeking, communicating
What cannot be said in words; but known and felt
In a heart most open to noticing rhyme
In early springtime mornings.
DJ Pasternak April 29, 2024
Month: April 2024
The Possibility of the Impossible
Around three am last night I couldn’t sleep. So I did what I often do in the case of sleeplessness. I got up, heated some milk, toasted a slice of bread, and went outside on the deck. We are fortunate to live in an area where city lights do not interfere with viewing the stars in the night sky and there was no moon. The contrast of the diminutive spark-like dots and the vast expanse of darkness where they existed, never ceased to amaze me.
This morning I looked up the readings for today and also saw it is the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Mary and announced that she would conceive and bear a child. She asked how could that be possible for she was a virgin. The angel replied that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the child she would bear would be the Son of God. And furthermore, the angel added Mary’s elderly cousin Elizabeth had conceived and was in her sixth month carrying a son.
Finally, Gabriel answered Mary’s question : “For with God nothing will be impossible.” And she said, “…be it to me according to thy word.” Did this teenage girl in her own reasoning understand how it could be possible physically? Of course not; but she did believe the ‘possibility of the impossible’ with God.
Today we’ll experience a few minutes of darkness as the path of the moon obstructs the light of the sun. Two days ago we felt the movement of the earth beneath us as a 4.8 earthquake took place. Like the stars above in the night sky, the quake reminded us of how minute we are in relation to the Creator.
How did I feel when the house shook and a strange rumble accompanied the movement? It was a feeling of peace because I knew this was beyond my control but somehow I trusted in the One who was shaking us up and revealing His power. Thankfully no devastation took place.
Our Lady of Windflowers revisited
On Easter afternoon my husband and I went to a friends house to drop off a card and plant. We expected her to be home but when I knocked on her front door and also rang the bell several times there was no answer. It seemed she was not home so I turned around to leave but noticed some tiny blue specks in her front yard. I walked over to the spot and saw they were little windflowers about a dozen or so growing in the grass. It reminded me of a poem I wrote and posted in my blog on July 7, 2019. I decided to post the poem again this morning:
There on the lap of Mary sits the One who holds our every hope Who looks down on creation at wonders great and small The Babe with blue bird lightly held wings spread as if to fly
As He the Son of heaven peers below intently viewing Tiny windflowers dots of color growing in the meadow. She adoring her sweet child as she sits upon a rock Her Mantle sheer and flowing blowing in the breeze.
They look upon the windflowers and it seems a sadness looms For as they bloom a while and wither so shall we Yet they recede and bloom again, as we shall live anew We, like tiny windflowers scattered on the earth
He bends to watch each flower as He does for you and me Then tilts His head toward the Lady dressed in blue Who guides us as a Mother, and loves us as her own And holds us close to Jesus as we were meant to be.
DJ Pasternak June 2019
The funny thing was our friend was home but her she was raking in the back yard a distance away and not visible from the front of her house. We never got to see her on Easter but called that evening. Today is April Fools Day but we were unintentionally fooled yesterday. Yet if not going there, I would not have revisited the poem or seen the delicate little Windflowers.
DJ Pasternak, Author 