Five Flights Up - In the Beginning...

Yesterday, as I sat thinking about another day, dreading its forceful onslaught, I heard, in the middle of my thoughts, a dog barking.

The barking sound came from underneath my window.  It was rapid and loud, but brief.  As quickly as it had started, it was over.

It reminded me of a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, which I have often come to in times of trouble, and after which this blog is named.

Here it is:

Still dark.

The unknown bird sits on his usual branch.

The little dog next door barks in his sleep

inquiringly, just once.

Perhaps in his sleep, too, the bird inquires

once or twice, quavering.

Questions---if that is what they are---

answered directly, simply,

by day itself.

Enormous morning, ponderous, meticulous;

gray light streaking each bare branch,

each single twig, along one side,

making another tree, of glassy veins...

The bird still sits there. Now he seems to yawn.

The little black dog runs in his yard.

His owner's voice arises, stern,

"You ought to be ashamed!"

What has he done?

He bounces cheerfully up and down;

he rushes in circles in the fallen leaves.

Obviously, he has no sense of shame.

He and the bird know everything is answered,

all taken care of,

no need to ask again.

---Yesterday brought to today so lightly!

(A yesterday I find almost impossible to lift.)

When I originally read this poem, it was the "other tree" of "glassy veins" to which I was drawn.  What an image!  But now the part that hits me is the man yelling at the dog.  There are many times when I feel, as others must, like the simple dog; yelled at for flaws which are simply part of my nature.

This poem resurfaces in my life in times of stress.  Without going on and on about it, this has been a time of great stress for me, and it has come to me to make a blog of it.

The point of this blog is not only to exist as a collection of things that are comforting, but also as an effort to slow the tide of the outside world and redirect my thinking toward something slower and more thoughtful.

In praise of everything slow and thoughtful will be our motto here.

Best wishes and take care,

Erin