Turning off the news
(Suffering world)
I walk down the path to the waters edge
(Despairing angels weep at every fence post)
The cold wind whips the water into a froth against the gray stony bank
(Where is He in all of this?)
Autumns landscape has changed to winter
(Pray for us now)
The world, hard and cold, in its fallow season
(And at the hour of our death)
I toss pieces of bread to the small wild ducks
(Peace be with you)
As they sail away, I turn to home.
(and also with you)
“Into this world, this demented inn, where there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes, uninvited.” — Thomas Merton
*** I had every intention of writing an advent poem each day. But with the news of yet another mass shooting, this is the best I can do. Praying for the victims and for our country – and praying that we can come together as reasonable people and create gun laws for the good of our country.
thecourseofourseasons 
This is so beautiful, Kathleen, and touching.
What a beautiful post!! 💖😊
This poem is very beautiful and is equally beautiful read as two poems, reading just the alternating lines. You are lucky to have that lake and that view for solace. I dont know what it is going to take to get better gun laws in your country. Suffering world, indeed.
This a beautiful poem Kathleen, though it speaks a sad truth. I often feel this melancholy when the weight of the world gets me down, like today. All I can do is to just try and be the best me that I can, share my God given gift with others to bring a little more light to shine upon the magic still in this world…. and pray to our Lord that He will handle it and keep my faith that He will. It’s not so much that guns are the problem, people have been killing each other since Cain and Abel, guns just make it a bit easier. I don’t know how to solve the problem, I do know totally banning guns isn’t it. I do believe if our society took better care to see that the poor, middle and those at the top shared this world pie equally among all, there would be a lot less violence. That’s just my humble opinion. I also believe in hope, that’s what keeps me from falling over the edge.Hope is God’s gift to us all.
Keith – Just heard the news that prayers were heard and a dear friends chemo and radiation has worked – God does answer prayers. And all I need is the faith of a tiny mustard seed and He believes in me even in my unbelief.
Yes, hope is our gift of greatest grace. Thank you for reminding me.
K
Kathleen, your reply to my comment brought me to tears,(in a good way) I don’t advocate a complete lack of gun control but I do believe that folks should have the right to have a gun if they feel that it’s a good idea. Where I come from it’s almost a necessity because the gang members and other types of criminals are often better equipped than the police. Out here where I live in Mississippi folks often hunt to help supplement their food supply. Most are law abiding hard working folks like you and I. It’s a shame that a few who refuse to accept responsibility for their actions and take out their hatred on the innocent. It’s a shame because it tends to overshadow the good ( or light as I like to call it) and the media tends to obsess in it’s focus on the dark. People like you and I are forces of light, we care. To me, it is our duty to share our light with those who need it or are looking. Our God given gift of poetic creativity( and photography) is to be shared with all who want to or need to. We have been blessed by God and given this gift to use for good, to light the way out of the darkness by just being ourselves and write poetry about the magic in our world around us, then share it, in the hope that some will embrace this light and begin seeing and seeking the good and the light. Poetry is one of my ways of trying to pay it forward. I feel it’s the same for you, too. We are the lucky ones, we can write about our troubles and release the dark and exchange it for light. Some folks just can’t seem to be able to do that. I think people have forgotten about hope.