Waiting

 

 

John Tarrant in The Light Inside the Darkness says: 

"We are waiting for the seasons to change. We are waiting for our time to come around, or that opening to appear in the Tao where we can walk through and touch somebody. Whereas if we had moved before, everything would have been wrong - no point, no effect. Sometimes the right thing to do is to wait. In the hexagram in the I-Ching about waiting, it says you should enjoy yourself with this kind of waiting, you should eat and drink and be of good cheer. We do not need to be dour about waiting because we are in tune with the seasons. It is the right time to wait."
 

Impending Doom

 

snow has poked itself into the foundation of the house

skimped scarf that has done little

to ward against burrowing winter

 

we wait     we have been waiting for something

all our lives      ewe have tapped toes, staccato’d fingernails

against granite tops   against wooden grain  against holes being dug

for sometime-fenceposts    for second comings     and third comings

and goings     waited for men who roll boulders      waiting

wrestling with worry over family coming over hills    

over passes    through woods  to grandma’s house

 

we wait    for oven timers to go off     for sun to come out and melt snow

for energy enough to shine floors     and boots     and windows

for gray days to end     for someone else to load the dishwasher    

to make a meal    to understand

strong women cannot always do everything on their own

 

we wait     for words to define aches that have nothing to do

with joy   and yet    waiting   for joy to sustain itself

like winter keeps at least one pile of snow in crooks

of branches of our trees     waiting     stoically

to be freed of all grips of life’s chaos     waiting

for messy life to sort itself out     waiting    for a pain

to go away     or a thought     or a fear

that wheedles at corners of eaves on a blizzard storm

 

waiting for sounds of first birds to replace

cheerful chirping of snowbirds    waiting

to hear pandemics end      waiting    yearning

to dive into the wreck     knowing

every goodness is but a thought away from tragedy

knowing waiting for everything is like waiting

for a pot to finally boil     boil over    burn pot dry

knowing full well that if we do not pay attention

all kinds of chaos can happen    and probably will

so we store up bits of goodness like squirrel

squirreling away things for later use

then forgetting where she put them and a chance dig

might uncover something bountiful that can be used

that can save her     waiting     for the next storm

impending doom    and finally      stepping ahead

to get over with the wait

 

©Carol Desjarlais 23.12.21

 Long wait for Christmas Eve to get over with before the kids get on the road Christmas Day.  Will spend today and tomorrow trying to be a mom-worrier.