Tender Variations

 

I recently did a reading at a library here in Maine. One listener remarked about how there is so much movement and hope in my pieces. And, it made me wonder - did I gloss over the difficulties that led to the words and images that flow? Another listener remarked about how she has been intrigued by the beauty and nuances of shades of gray. I've been pondering that reading, those reactions, since then. This piece came over the past few days.

Tender Variations

I’ve been digging through
this house of mine
and it’s amazing
what I’ve unearthed.
I know these things
have been here all along,
and I am so happy to be
  seeing them with fresh perspective.
Some are written evidence of
turbulent times and troubled thoughts
that seemed so black and white
way back when.
Holding them anew allows me
to enfold or disperse,
contemplate or dismiss,
follow my genuine desires.
Some of them I crumple up,
put them in my wood stove,
let them quietly burn.
They glow, curl, dissipate.
Whispers of comfort and vigor
fill my being
as smoke coils up and out.
I honor the
distress that was,
recognize the dissolution,
welcome the space provided
by letting go.
The pain and loneliness
of dysfunction and loss
are real and true.
Yet, we humans have
an amazing capacity
to act from a place
of grace and hope
when we so choose.
From there
 edges can soften,
shades of gray enlighten,
tender variations
reveal the truth of
unconditional Love.

Sarah Carlson
August 18, 2022