Tuesday, February 26, 2008

a day in mexico


The water begins in pale blues and greens, foaming snowy white where the waves break and pound the shoreline at its edge. Gradually the deeper and fuller colors creep out to a midnight blue on the horizon where the ocean cradles the sky. The air is pushing in the wildness of the water, the danger of the sea bending the trees until they bow low as they should. The sea birds are surfing above, showing me the way, teaching me.

I am breathing deeper now, the saline heat opening my lungs and my heart. My friends and family move around me like friendly ghosts ~ familiar spirits passing through me in great gusts of blessing and comfort. I am here, fully here, turning the goodness over in my bone-clean hands. I am listening to the sounds underneath the sounds, invading all of my deaf places.

I am writing it all down so my doubting heart will remember that such things exist. I am carving it into memory ~ a gift to unwrap when darker days come. This is a poem to keep me alive in the dead of my winters, when the world is still and frozen.

22 comments:

  1. Terri, what is a good synonym for "wow!"? What you've written here pulled me in like a rip tide.

    The timbre of the sounds I heard in my head as I read this; the scents; the colors; the taste; the FEEL were all so distinctive and impacting. Thank God you wrote this down, so the rest of us could live just a little bit of it vicariously through you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. terri. I love the ocean. what a great picture in your poem of the ocean cradling the sky. Never thought of it that way even after thousands of hours sitting by the ocean on porches for over 30 years on vacations.
    peace and glory to you.
    i have a blog, too, at www.scottrdavis.blogspot.com
    davis_scott_r@sbcglobal.net email

    ReplyDelete
  3. i'm with nathan: um, wow?

    i felt my heart slow down its beating to the pace of your words and the lull of the ocean as i read this.

    the part about the wildness of the water reminded me of kirsten's poem.

    i love the part about listening to the sounds underneath the sounds, invading all your deaf places. whoa. you're right; we have deaf places that can learn to hear anew if we slow down and let them listen to what can't normally be heard.

    mmmm, i just love the language here. such beautiful language from a beautiful you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This brings tears,

    I am in awe of your gift,

    You speak to my heart.

    You truly do....

    I feel like i've just glimpsed eternity.

    Love, M

    ReplyDelete
  5. My feet thawed a little reading that. You guys are a good lookin’ group! And that hotel in the background…(or is that your personal villa?)

    ReplyDelete
  6. nate: i'm living vicariously through it too. thanks for the nice words.

    scott: welcome! and i'm glad to give you a new metaphor for something you love.

    christianne: the sounds underneath the sounds...i think you've been hearing a lot of those lately. and i thought about kirsten's poem too. thanks also for the compliments. that means a lot to me coming from the writers in my midst.

    maithri: you slay me brother. thanks for hearing me the way that you do.

    chloe: they are beautiful, inside and out. we didn't stay at that hotel in the background. we were in some condos about a block from the beach. perfect. i'm trying to practice being present, but i keep finding myself back there.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm with Nathan and Christianne--wow.

    I was also struck by "the sounds beneath the sounds" and also by "a poem to keep me alive in the dead of my winters." When things are dead, we SO have to remember what we've heard before and weave those sounds into what's around us at the time so we hear what's there and don't just hear the nothingness of winter.

    This was gorgeous. I also felt the slower pace, and saw the wind and the water and watched them interact. Thanks for sharing your heart's vacation with us.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ummm . . . can we go back? Now.

    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. you have captured what I too feel when sitting at the ocean's shores, surrendered to the moment, bowing before such a teacher.
    sometimes I feel all the lessons I would ever need to learn in this great world, I could come to simply be finding my way to the water.

    ReplyDelete
  10. sarah: the winters are pretty long here, and it makes for a kind of internal freeze at times. warm thoughts help a lot.

    dave: i'm so there with you baby.

    bella: that's so true...especially those of us from the northern world. did you get to visit the ocean while you were in california? it's good to hear from you again!

    ReplyDelete
  11. sigh.

    sigh. sigh. sigh.

    i loved the sound of you being fully there, "turning the goodness over in my bone-clean hands".

    oh yes, this is so, so good. i felt the warmth, imagined you bobbing in that untamed ocean, buoyed by the love surrounding you, receiving it all, soaking it all in. in the midst of something untamed, but you are safe.

    thanks for sharing the photo. i'm going to download a copy, insert my face, & imagine myself there. ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  12. kirsten, i'm so pathetic...when i saw that you had left a comment i seriously said out loud, "oh, yay, yay, yay!" to MYSELF! thanks for getting all warm with me. i hate to admit it, but i never actually went in the ocean this time around. i'm kind of afraid of the water. pool all the way. and you can totally photoshop yourself into the pic...if you post it on your site. tee hee!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Terri
    You have a gift with words, so poetic you are.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Goll you have skills!

    You know like nunchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills...

    you like have empoetic skills!

    your emperor book has these words and pics that elicit feelings and create vicarious experiences of what it's like to just BE there! sweeet!

    ReplyDelete
  15. ha ha ha, di ... i'm loving the napoleon dynamite reference!!

    i'm all about the pool, too. i was being mostly metaphorical when i referred to the ocean ... as in the "ocean of love" (geez, does that sound cheezy, or what?!) you were swimming in.

    yeah.

    i know, i was all "YAY YAY YAY!!!!" when i saw you were back. missed you something crazy.

    love,
    *k

    ReplyDelete
  16. Terri
    a turtle wax commercial....? You are silly. And i wouldn't want you any other way.

    I went to Wal-Mart today in search of a girl scout cookie pimp....could not find one....experiencing withdrawal symptoms...must check into over eaters anonymous rehab....have gotten kicked out of rehab for smuggling in donuts...They did not buy into, Hi name is Tammy i have an overeating problem, i have been sugar free for......hmmmm they didn't buy into it all when they spotted that chocolate glaze all over my face.

    Man these rehabs are for quitors anyway. picky, picky. So i had a minor relapse with a box of donuts, everyone must have a vice.

    ReplyDelete
  17. tammy: thanks about the poetic thing. and you're pretty silly yourself. it's nice when someone get my twisted humor.

    di: flippin' sweet! i caught you a delicious bass in the ocean.

    kirsten: oh, i miss that ocean something horrible. all the warmth and closeness and availability and just being. *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  18. gosh! go fix me a quesadilla! (and when you say that, be sure to pronounce the l's the long way, not silent. this is napoleon dynamite, after all! gosh!)

    ReplyDelete
  19. i know we've never actually met in the flesh terri. but i miss you. something serious.

    can we just all live in a commune together?? i want to do life with you all for reals.

    missing you tonight,
    * kirsten

    ReplyDelete
  20. christianne: make your own dang quesadiLLa. :)

    kirsten: i miss you too. a commune sounds really nice right about now.

    everyone: sorry i've been out but i'm dealing with a family emergency. i'll be checking back in soon with any luck.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Terri...you are TOTALLY valid:)

    I love you!

    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  22. I hope everyone is okay in your fam. I miss your entries!
    -B

    ReplyDelete