Adrienne led a full Loving Kindness practice today, introducing it with the poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Bev took a writing prompt
they did not know I saw
from the Emily Dickinson's poem:
A Bird, came down the Walk
by Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk -
He did not know I saw -
He bit an Angle Worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,
And then, he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass -
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass -
He glanced with rapid eyes,
That hurried all abroad -
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought,
He stirred his Velvet Head. -
Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers,
And rowed him softer Home -
Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,
Leap, plashless as they swim.
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And now for some of
YOUR WRITING:
(Loving) Kindness is a friend
by Joyce Nicholson
Today, in the dying of the dark before the light returns,
I step out in this veiled harr to celebrate the too short life of our dear friend.
I bring loving kindness with me.
My emerald green centre pulsing with metta for all, gently holding the throbbing and stabbing aches of sorrow,
For kindness is all that there is.
Our shared love and our shared grief includes those unknown and those distant, and also those who caused hurt and harm, I offer my love to your suffering,
Equanimity is the path, loving kindness is the revolution.
Apples & Blackbirds
by Bex Woodsford
I left the apples where they lay
windfell on the ground
and now the blackbirds come each day
to eat and take their fill.
Ungainly on the ground
they hop
from one sweet taste to next
They did not know I saw
and thought
twas right to leave abundance
all over the garden ground.
My neighbour thought it was messy
and possibly a waste
but I knew that come the winter
others would appreciate
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Thanks to you all ...
... for your heartening feedback as always!
And a merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Bev and Adrienne