Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Solitude

 

“Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone.” - Paul Tillich
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A Serenity of Oaks

 


A Serenity of Oaks

Walk deep into the summer woods; past groves of trembling aspen go
(their chalky trunks stand straight and tall in crowds; if grown apart, they fall).
Walk on, past hawthorne, hazelnut, and plum, where saskatoon and chokecherry grow,
and when you pass the waving grass in clearings filled with sun-sweet air,
the dark majestic giants see: a serenity of oaks is there.
I know of one whose youth was hard; down near the base its bark is scarred.
And one began its life as three: a living arboreal trinity.
With strong and heavy limbs upraised there's one; it's lived a life of praise.
The last to put out leaf in spring, the tall and mighty forest king,
May you stand forever and never fall. The serenity of oaks I sing.
-- HJ June 24, 2009
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009


"Before we can pray, "Lord, Thy kingdom come," we must be willing to pray, "my kingdom go." -Alan Redpath