So I Feel Alive
Michael Kroth • October 4, 2019
Long Form Haiku
I leave the window open
In my room at night
So I feel alive
My backyard is not pristine
It feels disheveled
So I feel alive
My bookcase? Disorganized
Enough order, just
So I feel alive
My desk a mishmash, mash-mished
Incoherent whole
So I feel alive
I feel alive when not reigned
In or out or tight
Or bound or pinioned
I feel alive when free. Free
To feel cold night air
In a heated house
I feel alive when free. Free
To wander through fields
Untamed, wild. Like me
I feel alive when free. Free
To stumble upon
The book forgotten
I feel alive when free. Free
To choose the choice choice
Work chosen, not forced
To feel alive, fresh air fresh
Forests, pastures. Lives
Free. Open windows
Earth Day is this week. As we consider the state of our world - and the ecology of both our material and spiritual environment - it makes sense to ask what our role is, has been, and is supposed to be in relationship to "our common home" (Pope Francis).
Here are some initial thoughts about elegance, nature, and depth; a poem about happiness; and even a haiku.
It takes just a second to break something. Restoring what was broken takes time.
Outcomes are not certain, though some are much more highly predictable than others.
Life is messy. We know that. But some people move through that mess with a surprising kind of grace.
“The poor in spirit are by no means poor-spirited. They are persons who see so much to be, so much to do, such limitless reaches to life and goodness that they are profoundly conscious of their insufficiency and incompleteness.” ~Rufus Jones, The Inner Life , p. 19
