“My soul, be satisfied with flowers,
With fruit, with weeds even; but gather them
In the one garden you may call your own.”
(Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac)
Today, my soul is mourning many great things and some missing things that were once or seemed pure and innocent, without subtext.
Great, first—
• Langston Hughes, "Let America Be America Again"
(see here)
• Joseph Fasano, "July 4, 2026"
(see here)
Then innocent (and also great, in their own quiet way)—
• espadrilles
• laundry hung like prayer flags on an outdoor line
• waking to innocence
• festive cakes and other festive fare
• tables set in a garden
• gardens of wonder (and their inhabitants) long ago
• gatherings of friends
• peace without sharp reminders of guilt
• joy and light, the same
• words that make us feel other than impotent
"We forget about the spaciousness
above the clouds
but it's up there. The sun's up there too.
When words we hear don't fit the day,
when we worry
what we did or didn't do,
what if we close our eyes,
say any word we love
that makes us feel calm,
slip it into the atmosphere
and rise?
Creamy miles of quiet.
Giant swoop of blue."
(Naomi Shihab Nye, "Over the Weather")
“You see, I want a lot.
Perhaps I want everything
the darkness that comes with every infinite fall
and the shivering blaze of every step up.
So many live on and want nothing
And are raised to the rank of prince
By the slippery ease of their light judgments
But what you love to see are faces
that do work and feel thirst.
You love most of all those who need you
as they need a crowbar or a hoe.
You have not grown old, and it is not too late
To dive into your increasing depths
where life calmly gives out its own secret.”
(Rainer Maria Rilke, from Rilke's Book of Hours)
images:
Christie Cochrell
• espadrilles, Dome, slatki dome
• laundry, Colin Page, Laundry Lines
• waking, Dome, slatki dome
• festive cakes and other festive fare,
Buttercup Cakes
• tables set in a garden,
• gardens of wonder long ago,
• gatherings of friends,
Keimpe van der Kooi, Garden Party
Kristina Hovhannisyan, Cafe Street
Witold Wojtkiewicz, Garden Party
• peace, Marie Hamamoto Photography
• joy and light, Ethan Hoover, Unsplash
