Of Hummingbirds and Blades of Grass

"Every blade of grass has its Angel

that bends over it and whispers.....

'Grow. Grow!'"

The Talmud

"Peace is every step."

Thich Nhat Hanh

The ringing phone

brings stress

and lamentations,

situations even a mother's heart

can't fix.

The pressure in my head

reaches critical mass,

as I steady the firm trunk of me

to withstand

the pitch and toss

of shifting earth.

I place my feet carefully,

for peace is every step,*

and I must not fall.

In those moments,

I listen to the sweet chirp

of hummingbirds at the feeder,

gratefully drinking

the day's sustenance,

blissfully living

the present moment,

unaware

of the tumult

humans create

for ourselves

everywhere.

Perhaps our fear and worry

about tomorrow

is our greatest obstacle

to peace.

I walk along the beach,

witnessing the waves' 

eternal journey to the shore.

Sky and clouds lift my eyes,

reminding me to

Keep Looking Up.

Silence fills up 

all the space inside.

I wrap it around me

like a healing cloak. 

We need only live 

this single hour,

take the next step,

do the 

next right thing.

There is a larger landscape

than the one we see*,

a soul journey

each of us

must make alone.

With every step, 

we choose:

angst, fear, turmoil

or

peace, trust, hope.

Love, and let go.
Love, and let go.

In those times

when you are walking

through a barren wasteland,

filled with fear,

feeling so alone,

let me be
your Talmud Angel,

leaning over

the solitary blade of grass

that is your life,

and breathing: 

"Grow. Grow!"

for Paul's prompt at Real Toads: Peace Is Every Step.  How do we maintain our peacefulness when our world, or that of someone close,  turns upside down?  A timely prompt for me right now, as I try not to be toppled by a loved one's distress. (My doctor is doubling my blood pressure medication by the week, lol.) I am grateful for the waves, and their eternal journey to the shore. Their song soothes my tattered and weary soul. The Talmud Angel closing I borrowed from a poem in 2010.

* I am trying to find who said the landscape quote, as I have forgotten - Camus? I will keep looking.