The phoebe sits on her nest
Hour after hour,
Day after day,
Waiting for life to burst out
From under her warmth.
Can I weave a nest of silence,
weave it of listening,
listening, listening,
Layer upon layer?
But one must first become small,
Nothing but a presence,
Attentive as a nesting bird,
Proffering no slightest wish
Toward anything
that might happen or be given,
Only the warm, faithful waiting,
contained in one’s smallness.
Beyond the question,
the silence.
Before the answer,
the silence.
~ May Sarton, from Beyond the Question, A Grain of Mustard Seed: Poems
Notes:
- Poem: Thank you Beth at Alive on All Channels.
- Photo: Rainy Evenings by Laura Makabresku
- Related Posts: “It’s Been a Long Day“
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
BRAVO FOR THE AUTHOR…AND THE BIRD!!!
David…GOOD JOB! I love your analogy!
Awwww, thanks Jonathan. Loved it too!
😀
I love this a lot very impressed
always the silence…
Yes…
Beth, Your comment reminded me of
The nights are our salvation. The place where we exist. The silence breathes us in and spits us out holy.
— Excerpt #3, Michelle Tudor (37/52)
To Weave a Nest of Silence…
Wow.
Beautiful post.
Loved it too Sawsan…
“Before the answer, the silence”. Seems as with meditation. I wonder if phoebes meditate.
Great question. Sitting on eggs, need to be doing something
Beautiful and true 🙏🏻
Breathing a little more deeply…lovely
Yes. It is.
“…Proffering no slightest wish
Toward anything
that might happen or be given,
Only the warm, faithful waiting,
contained in one’s smallness.”
Love the patience and acceptance of one’s current condition that are implicit in this passage. A really beautiful piece, DK!
It is Lori. So Big.
So wonderful the maternal love the Phoebe, embraces…giving her all, faithful compassion, nurture of quiet stillness and the bodies warmth…while she waits, her baby completes gestation and then just at the right time, the sweet baby bird starts to peck through the layers upon layers of shell, to emerge from the warmth of the inner, contained shell and to the mighty welcome of Mommy Phoebe…another miracle has taken place, a life has bloomed…
A life bloomed, love that Christie.
Enthralling. Loved it.
I love the sweet photo and of course the Red Hair 🙂
beautiful. adding this one to my collection!