"pleasure is a thing that also needs accomplishing"

"The Word" by

Tony Hoagland

Down near the bottom
of the crossed-out list
of things you have to do today,

between "green thread"
and "broccoli" you find
that you have penciled "sunlight."

Resting on the page, the word
is as beautiful, it touches you
as if you had a friend

and sunlight were a present
he had sent you from some place distant
as this morning -- to cheer you up,

and to remind you that,
among your duties, pleasure
is a thing,

that also needs accomplishing
Do you remember?
that time and light are kinds

of love, and love
is no less practical
than a coffee grinder

or a safe spare tire?
Tomorrow you may be utterly
without a clue

but today you get a telegram,
from the heart in exile
proclaiming that the kingdom

still exists,
the king and queen alive,
still speaking to their children,

––to any one among them
who can find the time,
to sit out in the sun and listen.

bodying

I am a perfect replica of my mother's body, but in petite proportion. The long neck, the long torso, the long arms, the small chest and flat stomach, the tiny waist-- and then all of this sloping outward into broad hips, sturdy legs, dense calves, and strong and flexible ankles into able feet.

hello, Sun!

My face? I owe that to my Norwegian grandmother. But my body is all my mother.

I'm so glad she gave it to me! I regularly put up with rude comments about my size and it's impossible to find clothes that fit me off the rack, but my favorite part of my body is that it works! and it's mine! When as a young woman I looked around and realized that "woman" came in very different shapes, that somehow revealed to me that mine was its own type of beautiful. I'll never walk a runway, but I have a wonderful, laughing time chasing wildlife in my backyard and racing my husband to the grocery cart and playing in the snow.

paulaleme.com

>> So you there! --yeah, you:

Today, don't judge your body. Just enjoy it!

lost

So much of life falls through the cracks of our language—- lost because we don’t have the words and if we do, we realize that the words are not enough.

as Sara Groves said

listen here

hello, Lord:

it's me, your child. I

have a few things

on my mind. 

right now I'm faced 

with big decisions

and I'm wondering

if you have a minute

cuz

right now I don't hear so well

and I was wondering if you 

could speak up.

I know that you tore the veil

so I could sit with you in person

and hear what you're saying, 

but right now

I just can't hear you.

I don't doubt

your sovereignty;

I doubt my own ability

to hear what you're saying 

and to do the right thing, 

and I desperately want to 

do the right thing, 

but

right now I don't hear so well

and I was wondering if you 

could speak up.

I know that you tore the veil

so I could sit with you in person

and hear what you're saying, 

but right now

I just can't hear you.

and somewhere 

in the back of my mind

I think you are telling me to wait, 

and though patience

has never been mine, 

Lord, I will wait to hear from you. 

Lord, I'm waiting on you... 

right now I don't hear so well

and I was wondering if you 

could speak up. 

I know that you tore the veil

so I could sit with you in person

and hear what you're saying, 

but right now

I think you're whispering.