Today is the first Friday of the month which is time for our Inklings challenge. This month Molly, our PF host today, asked us to follow a prompt to replace word for word of a Wendell Barry small poem. “Like Snow”
In South Louisiana, we don’t get much snow, but winter is a time for fog. One morning I watched the fog floating above the bayou and wrote my poem response.
Like Fog
What if I became a mist
Like the fog, softly, softly
Lifting the day.
Fog on Bayou Teche
To read how other Inklings met this challenge, click below:
Join the Spiritual Thursday round-up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.
Holly leads the round-up of Spiritual Thursday posts, and she usually tweets out a topic early in the week. This week she told us to write about what is on our hearts.
I am thinking about words, the power of what you say. I am an introvert and as such, I usually think about what I am going to say before I say it, or more likely, think about what I should have said.
Why did I say that? I sounded so arrogant. What must she think of me?
I can mull over a conversation for days. I calm myself with self talk. She probably has totally forgotten about it by now. Don’t worry. Remember you are forgiven.
During Sunday’s sermon, Fr. Matt reminded us that words matter. He told a story of a father and son who when the father was close to dying, they learned to say “I love you” to each other. He continued by giving us 5 things you should say to a loved one who is dying: 1. I love you. 2. I forgive you. 3. Will you forgive me? 4. Thank you. 5. You can go now.
Sometimes when your world grows, your heart grows too. I now have a world of friends through blogging and connecting online with Facebook and Twitter. One of these friends lost her husband this week. I cannot know the grief that Bonnie Kaplan is going through, but I am sure she spoke these important words to her husband. Through her words on her blog, she exposed her breaking heart. Those of us who read her letters to Tuvia on the days from heart failure to death know that she spoke the words that matter.
When someone dies, we are sadly reminded that words do matter. But we should know this every day. Let’s say the words we feel to the ones we love. Don’t wait until tragedy comes. Breathe them out with every breath–I love you, I forgive you, I thank you…every day.
Below is a video posted by Bonnie in which she reads a love poem by ee cummings to Tuvia, “I Carry your Heart.”
Margaret Simon lives on the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana. She is a retired elementary gifted teacher who writes poetry and children's books. Welcome to a space of peace, poetry, and personal reflection. Walk in kindness.
Reflections on the Teche 