That, grand as they are, they will grow
Smaller and smaller and smaller still
Until they are soft hills--
Corners gone, rough edges gone,
Steep and dangerous passes gone
Heights that shape the weather
Gone....
That the grandeur will give way to
Soft spaces, green and cool,
Secret streams, murmuring pools,
Wordless life....
Can we know that we are like the mountains,
That we might grow small enough
To see the mystery unfold before us
And to feel it within us,
Invisible, infinite, earthy, and true--
That we will crumble into life?
40 Comments
Such a wonderful way to see growing older; I loved this. I live in the mountains and love them--they're alive, with their own histories and stories. Thank you for sharing this one, it's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of growing small in self importance...I believe that is what will enable us to see the mystery unfold before us, and to feel it within us. But, I think we expand in wisdom and concern for God's children, and God's creations as we grow older. I also like thinking that, just as the mountains give way to soft spaces...so do we.
ReplyDeleteI love the depth of your soul. There is always something to discover in your posts.
lovely poem, fun to contemplate...
ReplyDeleteSandy,
ReplyDeleteyou are so amazing. Your poem touches a chord in us all about love and time and how hard life can be at times and how soft and sweet it is at other times!
An excellent poem.
ReplyDeleteA very different and philosophical way to approach the subject.
Thank you for sharing it.
I say to my father that I am there to help him grow down just as he wss there to help me grow up.
ReplyDeleteWhen considering this prompt, I looked up a definition of seed and was overjoyed to find so many. Your little addendum is a very exciting option for a poet to consider.
I really like your pproach to the theme - but there is a "but". Your poem is in two parts. The mountain growing down and man growing down. It is the transition between the two that is a little clunky. Sorry to be negative ...
Great post, Sandy. The poem, your deep reflection, the pictures, are fascinating and amazing.
ReplyDeleteReally lovely poem!
ReplyDelete.."the seeds are in the idea but not the outcome"-growth as a journey-from the difficult- to the less and less difficult..'That we will crumble into life?'..thanks for sharing this..
ReplyDeleteYou made me think...
ReplyDeleteand then, smile...
Beautiful reflections! I live on just a small mountain, but I am conscious of how the mountain always seems smaller from the top looking down than from the bottom looking up!
ReplyDeleteReally beautiful. The mountains here in Wales are like that, worn and wise.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent interpretation. It's like giving beauty to entropy. A clever way of looking at it.
ReplyDeleteI live in an area of old mountains and rounded hills and broad river valleys. Time and age have softened their heights and their brows are not as lofty and high anymore. I understand what you are saying. An interesting viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteann
Thoughtful a lovely post!!
ReplyDeleteYes,as one who feel a connection, I am sure they know. Also, the idea of softening my edges as I age is very appealing.
ReplyDeletelovely poem. I've often thought of mountains this way, which is why the destruction of mountain top removal mining hurts so much. Like disease ravaging the human body, cutting it down too soon.
ReplyDeleteSandy you have the heart and soul of a true poet! I love seeing into your heart! I pray for those whose hearts are hardened like mountains, that they may give way to soft spaces.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful poetic rumination on growth and change; there's much here to linger over and carry away. Perhaps that's planting a seed too.
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful as always Sandy. I just love reading your poetry. The thought of 'planting a hill' is just great.
ReplyDeleteI have read this poem a couple of times now. I was having trouble understanding your perspective and yet I also did get it. I think what I take from it is that as we become less full of a vastness of distraction, perhaps we find the core of who we are and discover that it was hidden beneath so much extraneous mass.
ReplyDeleteWonderful, wonderful seed of an idea grown into a deep and thought-provoking and wise poem.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy, I just noticed your photo. I'm slow at noticing changes. Maybe you've had that photo there for years and took me until now to notice. Sigh. I love seeing you. You look very kind, pretty, warm and friendly. I tried clicking on it to make it bigger but it wouldn't enlarge.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting because whenever I go back home, I always think to myself how much smaller everything has gotten... ;)
ReplyDeleteA lovely and rich poem... thanks.
The cycle of life. Everything is part of the cycle. At one time all is growing and getting smaller and returning to grow again.
ReplyDeletewonderful post.
Cheers
Sandy,
ReplyDeleteLovely poem and I really like the reverse use of the prompt. Maybe we should all strive to remain small as a seed waiting for growth.
I have this image of you watering a little hill, to make it grow to a full blown mountain...
ReplyDeleteI like a poem that makes me think, and yours did. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSimply beautiful, Sandy...Peace - D
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful chain of thought, Sandy. We are all seeds of something else. All beginings are the seed of something that moves to a natural ending. Protect the seeds and life in all its wonders will be protected.
ReplyDeleteQuite intriguing! I have to go back and read again and think again... thank you.
ReplyDeleteA lovely look at the passage of time -
ReplyDeleteDear Sandy--
ReplyDeleteI think it's that we're like the mountains, rather than vice versa. They are so unself-possessed, even with all their individual energies.
Like the differences between the Smokey Mountains of our east and the Rockies of the west--very different energies--like the difference between a young adult and an elder. We can see the seeds of the elder in the younger...but...can we see the
the seeds of the next cycle in the elder?
Really lovely poem, thank you!
I spend as much time staring out of plane windows as possible, and I do think about such things as you write about!
Oh, Sandy, I really like this and the thought process behind it. A wonderful thought. A wonderful belief.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about things giving way to another. Now I am! I guess it was always there at the back of my mind but it's never been really at the forefront. What a wonderful way to 'wake up' to the thought.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem!
Thank you, Sandy.
"Crumble into life" is a lovely phrase. I know we come from very different spiritual outlooks, but I could definitely relate to what you write here.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy--
ReplyDeleteI put your poem in this blog post, with credits of course:
ttp://virtualteahouse.com/blogs/beth/archive/2008/09/16/the-future-is-ours-to-see-faith-in-motion.aspx
We may have different spiritual paths, but similar goals, it would seem!
Thanks again--
Beth
As always Sandy a wonderful poem and statement on life and death. I love it.
ReplyDeletelove, Melanie
An enjoyable piece. Relaxing. Touching. I feel more peaceful now thinking of aging in such a way.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I like the idea behind it. I counter though that a hill can become a mountain when all that has been kept cropped up inside erupts, the earth breaks open and creates mountains and valleys. I guess it's the same process, just a little less subtle... :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for being here.