May is for Memorials

Births, graduations, weddings, and wakes. School ends and a new season begins. We track the passage of time with ceremony. We see the value of acknowledging change. We celebrate. Photos and art memorialize. Artistic expression causes us to pause to recognize the joy and the grief that comes with life’s seasons.

From his book, As The Sky Begins To Change, Oregon’s poet laureate, Kim Stafford writes:

When Silence Is Loud

Late fall, by the lake at dusk,

when all the boats have gone

and the wind dies down, we

push our listening into stone

silence, all sound gone home

to sleep, trees holding breath,

water chilled to stillness,

leaving us numb,

So we

will be when one among us

goes, when one story stops,

one voice becomes that lake

at dusk—beautiful, reticent,

hinting with light across

the water what no one

needs to say.

And this by Alexandria Manalo from her book, Butterfly Army Unite:

Sanctuary

O Temple of Life

Sacred space

Breathing vessel

Exhaling grace

Seeking sanctuary from the race

Through jagged canyons

Emerald-laden lakes

Wild wanderings

Chaos dissipates

In wild places

I leave no trace

Admitted passage to Sanctuary

Safe

Go within your canyon deep

walls limned with gems

Of memories

All you sought to find

Love

Freedom

Peace

Emerging healed

Cascading

Joyful Streams

Nature’s torch

Your only light

Happy Memorial Day Weekend. Enjoy the Passage to Paradise, a tune by Govi. Feel free to share your thoughts below.