By the Way ~ It's Spring!

We Interrupt This Sorrow
©March 18, 2024, Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com

Sun rises, in an open, cloudless sky,
a day before Spring.
Earth applauds, seemingly more alive this morning.
I pause work, step onto the front deck,
while holding a handful of last year’s dried garden flowers,
an offering to the warm sun I will soon be feeling
as it moves to peek over the mountains.
I wait, somewhat impatiently, in the chilly 28 degrees,
noticing as I do, the receding edge of the snowbank,
a shoreline of bright green and furry mosses,
growing in the direction of True North.
Warmth penetrates my body….

Words bubble up, some might call them prayers, or gratitudes.
After each one, a crumbling of flowers is offered.
When I run dry, I go back inside,
and Bene the cat, jumps down from his perch by the fire,
stretches languidly, stacking every small, fine vertebra neatly into place,
and smiles as he saunters towards me.

My husband, a buddha in my life, made a simple observation yesterday
and it has stayed with me ever since,
like a sun, rising.
We were discussing the opioid crisis,
statistics very real to me in my work,
family life and service to my community.
We were discussing the devotion of someone to the cause,
that they were in the thick of it.
Buddha spoke, “and opioids have sadly claimed one more life.”

He ignited a burning question, it has not let up, even as I write this poem for reprieve—
how can I keep my heart open, receptive, moving in the direction of positivity and beauty
with so much loss: 112,000 lives in 2023, and all the loved ones in the fall out?
How can I prevent the claiming of another life, my own and people who care?

The answer? Here it comes…
just like that slow, cresting sun, 
over snow-covered mountains:
Pause, pause, pause again, and after that, keep pausing.
Poems, prayers, exercise, gardening, meditation….
Each pause holds a dedication, just like the green growing things,
the promise deep within DNA—
to express the beauty of life, the balance
and always keep moving True North.
True North?
A treasured and beautiful life
in the thick of it.   

Thank you, life-giving sun, the ebb, and flow,
Thank you branches of trees, waving a bouncy snap
as they unfurl, sun-soaked and freed from snowbanks.
New and precious life all along the edge of Winter,
remembering Spring, pushing up and out…
Thank you.