I can't sleep…
And the heart, unscrolled,
is comforted by such small things:
a cup of green tea rescues us, grows deep and large, a lake.”
—Jane Hirschfield, from “Recalling a Sung Dynasty Landscape” in Of Gravity and Angels
Notes: Poem – thank you Beth at Alive on All Channels. Photo: Green tea with mint by Kookoo sabzi.
from the first day: it has just turned february, the month when the days can’t decide what to do. an in betweener for us – a fire lit this morning, not needed by the weekend. a week later: the sky goes lavender on its way to dark. a week into february with open doors and a small fire in the heater. a week after that, i squoosh a few days into this: monday: the wind is singing a chilly song of february, slinging small stones and twigs and bits of leaves against the doors and windows. the glass creaks in protest and surrender, the cat twitches in her sleep, dreams disturbed almost to waking. the morning birds are silent. thursday: we are warm. flipflops, heaters off, windows open. the night sky clear. jingle bell cat a white presence in the darkness. i can’t sleep and can’t read.
Q: What moves you most in a work of literature?
A: Honesty, vulnerability, moments of forgiveness and redemption, and a recognition that we are all small and our lives so short.
~ Helen Macdonald: By the Book, The author of a 2015 Best Book of the Year: “H Is for Hawk”
Notes:
We are so small and
the greatness is so great. […]
What is striking is
the enormous force of weakness.
~ Hélène Cixous, from “The Cauliflower of the Lautaret,” Love Itself: In the Letter Box
Credits: Image – Exactly Poem: The Journey of Words