The Recipe Has Always Included Sorrow

Image: Brooke Shaden

To live in this world you must develop
a rubber-soled (souled?) heart.
It leads you forward into the fire,
seeking love to fulfil you,
till you lose all reason,
then lose love itself,

and learn the lesson:
we are the architects of our souls.

To live in this world,
you must learn,  many times,
that all that you hold most dear
will be lost, no matter how tightly
you grasp it. In fact, the more tightly
you hold on, the more certainly
the day will come when it is
wrenched from you, or simply
turns its back and walks away.
So you learn to surrender,
learn to just be with what is, Now,
be ready, when the time comes,
to be grateful for the gift,
to open your curled fingers
and let what you most loved in the world
fly away.

This lesson will be repeated until
you learn to keep your touch light
on the dear ones around you,
to recognize at the going in
that there will be a coming out,
which is probably why the old
are so gentle and nostalgic,
so close to trembling tears,
and why our eyes are so wise
and knowing and sad.

(What has saved me is:
I kept my heart evergreen,
remembering that each cell, particle,
tree, rock, each being in the world,
is connected to every other,
and to me.)

To live in this world, you must develop
a high hopeful heart, a merry laugh,
(and, as you age, a cackle).
You must always keep in mind,
(your Inner Wise Woman riding
on your left shoulder and
whispering in your ear,)
that the recipe for love, my friends,
has always included sorrow.

for Shay at The Sunday Muse