So much has changed since I wrote last month’s newsletter. I send you and your family love and compassion. A big thank you to health professionals, people serving us on the front lines at grocery stores and in other essential ways, to teachers, parents, and artists of all kinds.
My wish and hope is that you are being kind to yourself and others. And when you feel angry, hurt or fearful, just notice and perhaps grant yourself a time out. Now is the time for us to practice as much compassion as we can muster.
The writing group that I have been meeting with for more than a decade met last week via conference call. Ann read us a poem entitled Lockdown by Richard Hendrick, a Capuchin Franciscan living in Ireland, which we used as a prompt.
Using a line from Hendrick’s poem, I wrote my own which I include here (gulp)
Open the windows of your soul.
What will be revealed?
Let the fresher air fill your body.
Let the stale air escape.
My heart’s beat quickens and then slows
as I breathe. In/out. In/out.
Thoughts churn and then slow
as I breathe. In/out. In/out.
What day is it?
I must remember to check
my calendar a few times each day.
Lest I forget an appointment, a call.
One never knows when a snake
will call. Like yesterday in our hall.
Facebook friends assure it’s a rat snake.
A good friend to have around.
Somewhat comforting,
but how did it
get inside
our sheltered home?
So here we are sheltering in place. Opening the windows of our soul To love, fear, even to snakes.
Lagniappe
Eric Dunn started a podcast, Viral Positivity, and interviewed me for segment 10.