As my Sabbath comes to a close...

Spring is finally here in the Berkshires - the nights are still quiet cool and the day time chilly - but there are bouts of warmth and lots of sunshine.  The ever changing nature of our backyard still delights me...

And this year the lilacs and other flowers are out at the same time - and smell heavenly.  The poet, Mary Oliver, captured some of this serenity in her poem: Spring.

This morning
two birds
fell down the side of the maple tree

like a tuft of fire
a wheel of fire
a love knot

out of control as they plunged through the air
pressed against each other
and I thought

how I meant to live a quiet life
how I meant to live a life of mildness and meditation
tapping the careful words against each other

and I thought—
as though I were suddenly spinning like a bar of silver
as though I had shaken my arms and lo! they were wings—

of the Buddha
when he rose from the green garden
when he rose in his powerful ivory body

when it turned to the long dusty road without end
when he covered his hairs with ribbons and the petals of flowers
when he opened his hands to the world

I am blessed this day to be alive.