spring rains foster growth
polished windows allow light
cleansed hearts emit love
“Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.”
Parker Palmer
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
Buddha
“Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.”
William Shakespeare
So many seasons of spring
have I walked this earth:
to see the sun rise in its rose and blue
striations; to hear the morning chatter
as chickadee and finch wake; to witness
green leaves rise from soil with the promise of
rose tulip, purple iris, or yellow crocus.
Like an infant who wakes to see Mother’s
face anew in this morning, I feel joy
in anticipation, expectance of renewal,
amazement in life’s becoming.
“What a strange thing!
Kobayashi Issa, Poems
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms.”
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
Frances Hodgson Burnett
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
Gazing up in sun salutation,
With 'Canon in D' streaming
Into this inner sanctuary, the
Sun in its March morning salutation,
through the window before me—releases—
Drip, drip, drip,
The rhythm of Pachelbel announcing,
Beat by beat,
Note by note.
Yes!
Snow melt and moisture
Earth opening to thaw.
Soil teeming with worm and insect,
Veins of connections in their hatchings.
We will soon throw open windows,
Invite in through the once shuttered door,
And receive the breath of a new
Season in her glory. Her resplendent self in
The yellows, peaches, and pinks of Daffodils and Jonquils,
Welcoming birth in all the furry and feathered ones.
It is all our spirits have longed for
And our creative selves seek.
The release of the lion and the promise
Of the lamb, this month named for Mars,
god of War, with our only wish being for peace.
Too many have left us in this fight with
Nature, her anger rising with our ignorance.
Our lack of faith in the covenant to care
And sustain her. The gift we were entrusted
In our birth.
I know Father Sun you are just teasing me today.
Flirting with my desires, but
We are weary with
The depths of death and decay.
As they become a memory,
We will do what, as humans, we must.
We will rise to greet the dawn,
The promise of a new day, a new season.
A new moment.
A new covenant.
May it be so.
