Our Mother

A few years ago I gave my mom and dad a Larkspur Press printing of this poem by Kentucky poet George Ella Lyon. I was sharing it with someone today and had to share it here, too. It's one of my favorites.


Our Mother Who Art
in the kitchen
cooking us up
hallowed may we see
all that is
Your kingdom here
delivered into our hands
Your will in children
and trees leaping out
on earth
as if it were Heaven.

Give us this day
bread we could feed
the world
and snatch us bald-headed
if we try to swallow it all.

Don't forgive us
till we learn it is all for giving.
That salve you've got in a pot
on the back of the stove
only heals when everybody has some.

And heed us not
if we believe You look like us
and love us best
and gave us the True Truth
with a license to kill Others
writ inside.
Deliver us from this evil.

for it is Yours,
this kitchen we call Universe
where you stir up our favorite treat,
the Milky Way,
folding deep into sweet
our little sphere
with its powerful glory
of rainforests and oceans and mountains in feather-boa mist
forever
if we don't blow it up
and ever
if we don't tear it down
Amen
(Ah women
Ah children
Ah reckon She's about fed up.
We better make room at the table
for everybody
before She yells - OUT!
and turns our table over,
before She calls it off
this banquet we've been hoarding
this paradise
we aim to save
with bombs.)
Our Mother Who Art
in the kitchen
cooking us up
hallowed may we see
all that is
Your kingdom here
delivered into our hands
Your will in children
and trees leaping out
on earth
as if it were Heaven.

Give us this day
bread we could feed
the world
and snatch us bald-headed
if we try to swallow it all.

Don't forgive us
till we learn it is all for giving.
That salve you've got in a pot
on the back of the stove
only heals when everybody has some.

And heed us not
if we believe You look like us
and love us best
and gave us the True Truth
with a license to kill Others
writ inside.
Deliver us from this evil.

for it is Yours,
this kitchen we call Universe
where you stir up our favorite treat,
the Milky Way,
folding deep into sweet
our little sphere
with its powerful glory
of rainforests and oceans and mountains in feather-boa mist
forever
if we don't blow it up
and ever
if we don't tear it down
Amen
(Ah women
Ah children
Ah reckon She's about fed up.
We better make room at the table
for everybody
before She yells - OUT!
and turns our table over,
before She calls it off
this banquet we've been hoarding
this paradise
we aim to save
with bombs.)

Spring Updates

It's been a while since I've posted pictures. We haven't been at all camera happy this winter. But the daffodils are up. The birds are louder than ever. And we've had more energy - and occasions - to document this life.

Sophie getting ready for her dance pictures. (she loves the ballet, hates the tap)
The first cookout of spring.
and making cupcakes for Riley's birthday (post to follow) in my old apron.
Riley's first horseback ride of the season.
and lots of loving on her mama's ever growing, ever moving, ever lively belly.
It is March in the Bluegrass and while I know it might snow one more time and we probably haven't seen our last frost, the daytime temps are consistently in the 50's and 60's. I've over extended myself in the yard, planting wildflower seeds, picking up walnuts from the now defunct walnut tree, and getting my compost bin together. We've chatted with all our neighbors over the fences and the walks to and from Sophie's school take at least twice as long as they did in February.

It's a good time to be a Kentuckian.

a short cryptic post about strengths and weaknesses

Someone once told me that strengths and weaknesses are not on opposing ends, but right next to each other - find your strength and right on the other side begin your weaknesses.

I'm not always successful in my quest to be kind, but I really try. I lose my cool, I get frustrated, sometimes I even yell a little bit, but overall I try to be a kind person. I see this as one of my strengths and as something in my life that I can always grow toward - like happiness, you're never "done".

But right on the other side of that is one of my weaknesses: I'm amazingly sensitive and easily hurt. I can't stand it when someone is mad at me, and will full on melt down if I feel I have done something wrong - especially if I don't know what that something is. I will lay awake at night thinking simultaneously of how I will confront the person/situation, and wrack my brain to find out what the hell happened.

Yesterday I encountered two unfortunate situations that prey heavily on this weakness. In true form, I cried as soon as I was able to find some privacy and lay awake from 2-4am, replaying the interactions in my head. Today, I feel bruised and emotionally drained; as though a part of me was in a boxing match and is just beginning to heal.

This is a familiar but thankfully rare feeling.

I am now on a journey: to move forward on my quest to be kind without internalizing other people's behavior. I can accept the consequences of my actions - I find apologies to be all at once tormenting and a release. But I must find strength in my strength, as it were, and lend a bit of kindness to myself.