Merry Christmas

Last Friday evening on the Winter Solstice, I joined two friends for a small concert at the local Library. Chris and Mike were the musicians and I was the narrator, invited to bring some readings and images to sprinkle between their fine songs. Among my selections was this poem by Kentucky farmer, essayist, and poet Wendell Berry. It seems right for these times.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

I’ll be back in the New Year with more blog posts, podcasts and news about my next writing project.