I have walked past this tree millions of times.
But this time I saw the roots embracing the plants like loving arms.
This time I saw the heart shape.
Do you see it?
"Our task must be to free ourselves...
by widening our circle of compassion
to embrace all living creatures
and the whole of nature and its beauty."
Albert Einstein
Walking on, I noticed this embrace . . . of flotsam & garbage. . .
"You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest
that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present,"
Jan Glidewell
I knew that I was onto the perfect theme for this post. . .
I was on the lookout for more embraces. This feather was a hint
leading me to my next picture. . .
"A discerning eye needs only a hint.
and understatement leaves the imagination free
to build its own elaboration."
Russell Page
The love-doves.
Coooo!
And there my little doves did sit With feathers softly brown And glittering eyes that showed their right To general "And there my little doves did sit
With feathers softly brown
And glittering eyes that showed their right
To general Nature's deep delight."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
<>
"Love...It surrounds every being
and extends slowly to embrace all that shall be."
Kahlil Gibran
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I have been walking for years:
Across the living room carpet,
down the street,
through the woods & fields of childhood.
My brother and I
once walked to a family friend's home in a neighboring town.
She looked past us at her door for my mother parking the car.
"You WALKED?!"
Mom had to come and pick us up that time.
Walking to school one day
I realized that one anonymous day of school
was not as worthy
as the amazing day I'd have
if I took public transportation
and walked around
"downtown"
(Thank you Petula Clark)
and I still do remember
that single magic day.
Remember that movie:
"Run Lola Run?"
I often felt as if I were in a movie
as I visited my numerous secret city places.
The streets, back alleys, and buildings
became my especial friends.
They never teased, or yelled at me.
My movie's locations have changed over the years:
New York City streets, New Hampshire's high meadows.
I traversed new realities
mediated by yearning, stress, and "enhancers."
I walked around Woodstock,
hitchhiked from Toronto to Montreal to Boston
(which involved a lot of walking).
Uptown, Downtown,
from adolescence
to "maturity."
My elderly grandmother was a great walker too.
Sometimes she is with me as I walk,
especially as I become
companionably older.
Now I'm walking Waikiki:
Low and High and out to sea,
'neith seas of skies
sailed by cumulus ships.
I walk along the sacred street;
Walking as usual
into the unknown.
Thank YOU
for walking with me!
ALOHA, cloudia
