Monday, January 31, 2022

A Gift for You - A Flower and a Poem

 


To Bless the Space Between

As this year draws to its end,

We give thanks for the gifts it brought

And how they became inlaid within

Where neither time nor tide can touch them.

The days when the veil lifted

And the soul could see delight;

When a quiver caressed the heart

In the sheer exuberance of being here.

 Surprises that came awake

In forgotten corners of old fields

Where expectation seemed to have quenched.

The slow, brooding times

When all was awkward

And the wave in the mind

Pierced every sore with salt.

The darkened days that stopped

The confidence of the dawn.

Days when beloved faces shone brighter

With light from beyond themselves;

And from the granite of some secret sorrow

A stream of buried tears loosened.

We bless this year for all we learned,

For all we loved and lost

And for the quiet way it brought us

Nearer to our invisible destination.

~John O'Donohue

 

I chose red flowers today because red is the color used in celebrating Chinese New Year's. The red keeps evil away and is used for protection.

Thank you, Grass People Tree for sharing this poem.

Happy Chinese New Year's to each of you and may your new year be blessed.

5 comments:

Jeanie said...

I don't know what these lovely blooms are, but they're so pretty! And yes, the New Year!

Red Rose Alley said...

I really liked the poem you shared today. And I always have to stop for red flowers and red birds. There's just something about them. These are such pretty photos, Marilyn.

Happy February days.

~Sheri

Lorrie said...

Very pretty blooms. The last four lines of the poem are a great sum-up of the year that's passed.

Mary said...

Is that witch hazel? Such a beautiful shade of pinkish-red.
Happy Chinese New Year - it's the Year of the Tiger and hopefully there
will be more done to save the tigers whose numbers are diminishing drastically. . . . . .sadly they are the most threatened of the big cats!
Happy February days dear - tea will be welcomed during these cold afternoons when I'm wondering about my own "invisible destination" a lot these days! That is an amazing poem.
Mary x

Laura Morrigan said...

Gong hei fa choi! What lovely flowers!