There must be time for the Old Gods


There are times when life seems to be nothing but a mad, unconsidered rush to get ‘things’ done. This new poem is a reflection of a longing for stillness. It is a longing for the space and time to go deeply within the forests of soul and of nature, there to find the essence of self that I know has not been lost.

Will you take a moment to sit quietly with me?

If you are quiet

Still, there must be time (and time) –
For the Old Gods:
Gnarled, gentle fingers
Roots dipped in molten core –
Wait – bluebalancing summer skies
On a rainbow of green on green.

If you are quiet,
You may enter in beneath the boughs
On moss slippered praying feet,
There, They will meet with you,
Barked-feathered-bright-eyed,
Quivering with Life.

If you are quiet,
They will let you hear
A wild of wind,
Winding itself around the world,
Whispering the stories of stories
Of things you always knew.

And if you dare,
And if you will,

You may find the old self,
Not felled as you once thought,
But firm-rooted,
Branching down,
Long and strong
To pull the sap
From the centre
Of the stone
Of your heart.

Home now, home now,
In the roaring silence of
Your Self,
Be brave enough to
Be still.

                        Ruth Everson

Comments

  1. Kylie16 March 2013 at 09:53

    Ruth - I love this! Being brave enough to be still is something most of us would do well to try. It reminds me of Eliot's "Teach us to care and not to care / Teach us to sit still" but I suspect that's nothing more than an echo...And now for the long shot: in 2002 you chaperoned the Olympiad Top 3 to the UK. I was the terminally awkward one in the coat that looked like one of the Soviet Union's less successful fashion innovations. Reading your blog, I realise I'd love to get back in touch (although that must seem immensely random more than a decade later). Would that be agreeable to you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ruth Everson21 March 2013 at 09:34

      Hi Kylie, how lovely to hear from you! Have just found your comment now. You can find me on Twitter @RuthEleanorE or on Facebook.

      Delete

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