Gladness

To expect nothing other than what is given

Some rain, some snow -

The harsher in some ways the better,

Because here skies are deeper,

Clearer in the wonders they unveil.

A star-hung night

Warming the heart in pale glow,

Trees black

as the abyss.

In this quiet hush -

a spare gladness

in the spartan cradle of sky, where the soul spreads wide.

Feelings of freedom and love

Unwinding the habits of mind,

Drowning out the noise,

Inviting

a richness of vision,

supreme simplicity,

deep peace,

Begging

to be remembered, to be believed in

as a real experience in life.

And when civilization tries to bridle the spirit -

Imagine the rocky Maine coastline,

forests dense with towering redwoods,

blue hues of a snow-capped mountains.

Here life is serene and wholesome,

Fundamental and raw,

under-girded by silent grace

simple truths

that [if you let them]

open the doorway to love.

Reflections

I wrote Gladness for my children four Valentine's Days ago. It carries the spirit of a Rockwell Kent winter landscape — his sense of adventure, and the specific stillness of his snow-covered coastal headlands and spruce, was the image in my mind as I wrote it. I want them to know nature is a place where they can escape the noise and come back to their inner truth.

Stillness is not empty. It is fertile soil for internal growth.

“These are the times in life — when nothing happens — but in quietness the soul expands.”
Rockwell Kent (1882–1971)