Now we are at home trying to make sense of all the changing developments in the COVID-19 worldwide crisis.
Now we are at home reading this English translation of an amazing poem by Mariangela Gualtieri.
March the Ninth Twenty Twenty
Mariangela GualtieriI’m telling you this
we needed to stop.
We knew. We all felt it
that it was too furious,
our frenzy. Being inside of things.
Outside of our selves.
Squeeze every hour – make it yield.We needed to stop
and we couldn’t.
We needed to do it together.
Slow down the race.
But we couldn’t.
There was no human force
that could hold us back.And since this
was for all of us a tacit wish
like an unconscious will –
perhaps our species has obeyed
loosened the bonds that protect
our seed. Opened
the innermost cracks
and let it in.
Perhaps this is why there was a leap
in the species – from the bat to us.
Something in us wanted to be opened.
Perhaps, I don’t know.Now we are at home.
It is extraordinary what is happening.
And there is gold, I believe, in this strange time.
Perhaps there are gifts.
Nuggets of gold for us. If we help one another.
There is a very strong call
of the species now and as a species
we must each see ourselves. A common fate
holds us here. We knew it. But not well enough.
Either all of us, or no one.The earth is powerful. Truly alive
I feel it thinking a thought
that we do not know.
And with what’s happening now? Let us consider
whether the earth is not what’s moving.
Whether the law that rules
the entire universe, whether what’s happening, I
wonder,
isn’t the full expression of that law
that governs us too – just like
every star – every particle of the cosmos.Whether the dark matter was this
being bound together in an ardor
for life, with the sweep of death that comes
to rebalance every species.
Keep it within its dimensions, in its place,
going in the right direction. It is not us
who made heaven.An imposing voice, without words
tells us to stay home now, like children
who are in trouble and don’t know why,
and won’t get kisses, won’t be hugged.
Each within a suspension
that takes us back, perhaps to the slowness
of ancient ancestors, of mothers.Look more at the sky,
daub a dead man ochre. Bake bread
for the first time. Look intently at a face. Sing
a child softly to sleep. For the first time
hold someone else’s hand tight
feel the strength of the agreement. That we are
together.
A single organism. The whole species
we carry within us. We are saving it inside us.To that grasp of a palm
in another person’s palm
to that simple act that we are now forbidden –
we will return with expanded awareness.
We’ll be here, more attentive, I think. Our hand
will be more delicate in the doing of life.
Now that we know how sad it is
to stand one meter apart.Translation by Lucy Rand e Clarissa Botsford
Now we are at home taking this photo …
… and noting that Oscar does not understand the concept of social distancing.
Now we are at home eating fresh food again because a dear friend dropped off supplies for us yesterday.
Now we are at home listening to music we love about home.
Now we are at home, feeling grateful for all we have, including YOU.
Oscar has the right attitude!
I’m at home appreciating your attitude, Peter!
Such an achingly beautiful poem. Thank you.
You are most welcome, my beautiful friend.
💞💞💞💞💞
You are a gift to me, my friend.
Two things – I have felt this same way, that the silver lining in all of this is that we are being forced to slow down. I told that to my sister last night over the phone. I am feeling a peace spread through me as my schedule has opened up. Not that I was all that busy, being retired, but still there were commitments and less time to just reflect. Now we are being told to sit still, to internalize, to become more careful of ourselves and others. It’s not all bad.
And second…we had salmon and broccoli last night too! 🙂
It helps, Dawn, to feel connected to you in so many ways from our homes!
Definitely at home! So many people working from home that I am taking a meeting from the van parked in the garage today, lol. Internet has reached peak capacity here.
Greetings from our home to your home, Maureen!
i absolutely love every word of this. and now i am at the airport, sharing space with many who very soon hope to be home.
I love every word you write, beth, and I hope you and yours are all okay at home.
There’s great wisdom
There’s great wisdom not just in knowing that being separated will make us appreciate closeness even more, but also that we are a single species and so dependent on each other.
Thanks for the great wisdom, my friend, and I am dependent on your comments.
I rarely go out but being told I can’t is annoying
These are annoying times, Jo-Anne. I hope you and yours are all safe at home.
Love the sentiments expressed here, Ann. These are definitely times that call upon us to find the silver lining. Stay safe…
Thank you for this lovely comment, my friend, and I hope you stay safe as well.
Nature has sent us a range of lessons during the last 12 months. Excellent poem
I hope we can learn from nature, my excellent friend.
I am at home, preparing to switch into my first day of work-from-my-living-room mode, Ann.
We are all adapting to the new normal, my friend. Stay safe with those you love.
Now we are at home and Oscar is deep in thought. The next novel will be “The Corona Kitty King”!
“History and Etymology for corona
Noun
borrowed from Latin corōna “garland worn on the head as a mark of honor or emblem of majesty, halo around a celestial body, top part of an entablature”
Humankind will be wearing this garland for a while, I hope it helps makes us more majestic!
I would even say its karma. We have been going in the wrong direction for too long. Nature is now making us all stop and reevaluate who we are and what is most important in our lives. The answer is each other …. We have been home for one week of social distancing and isolation. Not too shabby once I got into a routing. Don never had one, so he’s as happy home camper 💕
Take care you two.
Sending love and light to you and Don, my good friend. ❤ ❤