Five minutes of not feeling depressed
At the top of the hill
before I open the gate
before I go back to the house
I stop and look up
My feet are on the ground and cannot leave it
but the clouds take me away
Now I see where Michelangelo got those billows
blue-shadowed of celestial robes
Now I see where Blake got the ripples
in God's beard as he compassed creation
Now I see where Venus got her round white limbs
and the full rolling flesh with juicy dimples
Now I see why the wings of angels
arch achingly sweep weepingly
Now I see why the gates of heaven
are made of pearl
and why all people of all times look upwards
to call upon their gods
If we can ever be free we will be as clouds are
contained by nothing smaller than sky
shaped by nothing harsher than wind
and so in love with light
that we hold it glowing in every drop of our being
and give it back so generously
that not even night can be black
The clouds are so open
that the empty spaces of my life
gnawed hollow by being human
close in upon themselves until they're gone
The clouds are so limitless
that the ragged edges of myself fretted and frayed by worry
lie down flat and look glossy
The clouds are so quiet
that all the noises of my brain fade away
From up in the clouds I look down and see that my life
is as simple and smooth as a seed
(From Four Quarters, by Edith Speers, Esperance Press
2001 pp.37-38.)
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