I invite you to fall down. Fall down to the earth.
—Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, “Darkness is Asking to Be Loved,” Lion’s Roar
Today, I am fallen tree.
I am deadwood.
Surrender. I am
don’t-try-to-rise.
Today is a day to know
what it is to fall,
to be felled, to stay fallen.
To say nothing.
Today I am grateful
for gravity that insists,
Don’t try. I don’t try.
I lose any certainty
of where my body ends,
where earth begins,
lose myself in dark, loamy scent
of disturbed and open dirt.
There will be a day
to rise, to stand, to grow
new leaves that gather shine,
to share. But today is a day
to lie on the ground
and lean into loss,
say yes to confusion.
to be torn apart, to listen,
to know the only way
to start again is from here.
Those last six lines are a prescription for the whole world now – thank you for saying it so beautifully.
thank you, Heidi … oh, these days, so many invitations to change how we act, what we think we know
Amen, especially to your last six lines. You have perfectly captured the global zeitgeist and stunned horror in response to unwarranted police violence, deadly racial tension, hostility and riots, and the need to recover, mend and begin again. Thank you, Rosemerry.
Oh Joy, this imperative to begin again. May we do it …