autumn & the existential

and a couple poems to help you dig out your inner pumpkin seeds

a little companion song for this post:

today I wrote in public. I found myself having trouble leaning into my wistful feelings as I was surrounded on two sides by conversations on varying bodily ailments.

bodily ailments, while existential, do not give rise to wistful feelings. at least for me…

but staring up at an oak tree, and allowing for the subtle influence of my momentary companions, I wove them together. the oak, still holding onto summer’s green despite the encroaching autumn… the women, some grandmothers, sitting together playing card games… it was easy to see their connection once I let myself be there with them.

this is not that oak tree—writing from the backyard yesterday evening

anyways, as autumn does its work on me, I’ve been thinking about the expectations we place on ourselves. seems like it’s mostly an overdo/underdo situation for me. but I thought I’d share a couple poems from my poetry book (almost a year old now) that dwell on those themes and were likely a subconscious attempt (when I wrote them) to help myself center on things that really matter…

my knot

in the long rug of humanity
I am a knot
slid down and knocked into place
holding my color where I am

in the greenhouse of the world
I am a petal
rising in my season
and falling fragrant as I am made

in the vast dressing room of space
the earth is a single pearl
threaded and strung
round the neck of the sun

in the full story of time
I am a sentence—a word
resonating with some truth
on the edge of the mind of God


—ZW

my garden, when I’m gone

let my life be made as a garden
that even when I’m gone 
and can no longer tend it
others may take and eat
and replant the good seeds 
you have sown into me


—ZW

sometimes I wonder if the only meaningful legacy we will leave for the next generation will be those things and ways we acted out love and faithfulness on the earth. our love and faithfulness will certainly not be lost.

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thanks for being here. I write weekly sharing poetry, songs, musings, thoughts on creative life, and hopefully some encouragement… my first collection of poetry, Snowmelt to Roots, is available in my shop, (or on Amazon). and my music is available here.

peace,

Z