So many thought Monet
was making it up,
imagining wildly
how things might be
if God held them closer.
But what he did
was much braver.
Like a human microscope
he kept looking and looking
as warmth left the trees
as waves remade the sea
as loss slowed into peace
undoing hard men.
He watched
strange flowers open
where only silence had been.
He focused so far in
that everything shimmered.
He proved by the strength
of his attention that
nothing can keep
light out.
It’s a small leap
to say that love
works this way-
a light that lives in the bones,
just waiting to be seen.
So why not
prop your heart
out in the open
like the easel that it is
and dab its blood
on everything.
A Question to Walk With: Describe something you finally saw with your heart. How is this different than seeing with your mind? Now that you’ve seen with your heart, where does what you’ve seen live in you? This is from my book, Drinking from the River of Light.
MAY 13–15: Reading and Weekend Retreat, The Deeper Teachers: Pain, Fear, and Grief, The Sophia Institute, Charleston, SC, or call 843–720–8528, ( web link) — ONLINE
MAY 23–27: Weeklong Retreat, The One Life We’re Given: Saying Yes to Life, The Modern Elder Academy, Baja, Mexico, ( web link) — IN PERSON
JUNE 24–26: Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY, The Deeper Teachers: Fear, Pain, and Grief, Weekend Retreat, (web link) — IN PERSON
