Unexpected Grace

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When one has readied oneself

for the perilous passage,

has set off with a high heart,

acceptance and courage

along the rocky path,

how unexpected

the diversion

into an alpine meadow

strewn with yellow-flower.

I sling down my pack,

sinking gratefully onto the warm, tumbled earth,

blessing, balance, and beauty

irradiating, infusing my being

-like the noonday sun-

with unexpected grace,

unsought beatitude and benediction,

unspoken petition as answered prayer.

My response can only be

a relieved and grateful

"Thank You".

Hi kids, all went wonderfully well in the city. We stayed at the coolest hundred year old hotel on English Bay. From my bed on the seventeenth floor, I could look out at a strip of beach, and watch all the lights come on after dark.

The last words I heard before the anaesthesia were "Imagine you're in Tofino, walking along the beach, listening to the waves...." I did, and when I woke up I was in Recovery. To my delight, my ankle is so well wrapped I barely know an operation occurred and I am able to hobble on it quite as well as I did before. I am still very tired, so I am taking it very easy. I have the neurological output of one of last summer's potatoes. Not much poetry happening here right now. 

So far, so good. Better than I expected by far. Sometimes, when we expect the worst, we get a pleasant surprise. Yippee!

WILD SWANS

Stamp River
May 6, 2001

Have you ever seen a swan walking?
One morning, blessing the vicissitudes of a fitful spring,
a dozen swans were clustered
at the river's bend,
most in the water,
some few lumbering still
upon the bank,
furtive and embarrassed
at being thus unusually displayed
as an aging Beauty
caught in disarray.

Then, as if by an inner signal,
heads protuberant and seeking
purchase for their clumsy wide-webbed toes,
splayed precariously
upon the muddy bank,
over the edge each went,
heavy bodies dragged unwillingly behind,
each white bird
plunging, slipping down,
in a flapping-feathered flurry of distress,
the whole flock gliding off,
serene and graceful as a pleasant dream,
the way moments of sudden fleeting grace
fall on our heavy, so encumbered hearts,
transforming past and evolutionary pain
with sweet possibilities
again, and yet
again.