Thursday, September 29, 2011

Thanksgiving & Pickled Beets

Thanksgiving

Once in a while
You get a break

Once in a while
You make god laugh

Once in a while
Things suddenly shift

You spend so long
fighting the wind
leaning into it
gritting teeth against stinging rain

You find your mind
is busier than a storm of squirrels
collecting questions Why? Why not? For what?
For whose demands do you hang on?

And then - the wind changes.
Surprised by no longer needing to lean
you lose balance and loosening your grip
all leaves are pulled from your fingers

All the reasons why
have flown
The clothes that kept you covered
pulled away

Instead standing still
you straighten and relax
hands loose and empty
sighing deep and easy

The diminishing struggle
that wore away for so long
is fruit at your feet
returning Joy

Wider, taller, deeper
the sun smiles
at your stretch
and you know again

Grow another ring round
skin a little thicker
heart a little softer
ready for the next blow
allan reeve
September 29, 2011



Pickled beets

Our friend John plowed and tilled a fallowed plot
and invited our seeds to sow
I put tiny dreams of pickled beets into his ground
expecting them to grow

I prayed for rain to grow my crop
and got nothing much
the deer munched away the tops
I was happy for their lunch

Somehow those seeds found what needed
from an invisible powerful source
I only had to pull and wash and cut and boil
now dreams are my next course
allan reeve
September 29, 2011


(I think this poem is about George Street United church.)

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