Wednesday, October 21, 2009

the promise of tomorrow

this evening spread wide into prussian blue
and violet
and inside those sheets of glowing clouds
were threads of salmon and pale butter yellow
that smeared and melded into one.

and my heart
softened like the day
and was grateful
for this everything . . .

inside and outside
this moment.


as low my fires of drift-wood burn,
i hear that sea's deep sounds increase,
and, fair in sunset light, discern
its mirage-lifted isles of peace.

excerpted from "burning driftwood" by john greenleaf whittier

here's some beautiful music from david sylvian entitled, "come morning" . . .

"God is in the silences
between the rhythms
rise and falling
the starring of the skies of blue
the promise of tomorrow's calling
hey ho and away we go
hey ho come morning"

17 comments:

Dan Gurney said...

The poetry you wrote at the beginning of your post stand up well to the bits from john greenleaf whittier and david sylvian. I'm grateful for your expression of gratitude for the day.

Delwyn said...

Hello Steven
I love your words today. They painted the scene perfectly and reminded me of the 'inside and outside' feeling of gratitude...the place of God...

thank you Steven

Happy days my friend

steven said...

hi dan - thankyou for that thoughtful compliment!!! as i kissed my daughter goodnight last night she talked to me about the passing of a day and how there is never another one quite like it and so we should enjoy each one only for itself. she's almost thirtten and well on her way to being a very cool person. have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

ahhh delwyn, thankyou for your kind comment. i'm so pleased to be able to share that goodness with you. have a peaceful day by the river. steven

Tess Kincaid said...

God IS in the silences between the rhythms. And I love the notion of golden clouds being spread like butter!

Barry said...

It is almost 8:00 here and the day is well begun. I wish I'd found your blog and Sylvian's music an hour earlier.

That would have been very cool

Jinksy said...

Your choice of music was so full of images, it didn't really need a vocal... It also complemented your lines at the start of this post, and no, that's not a spelling mistake version of 'compliment', in case you wondered...

steven said...

hi willow, i think you're right. steven

steven said...

hi barry - my morning begins early - well early for me - 6:15. i love to listen to quiet music, read a little, cruise the blogs that i can get to and enjoy coffee. nowadays much of that is experienced in darkness of course!!! have a lovely evening. steven

steven said...

ahhh jinksy - where were you when i was learning the english language? i love to play with it and mess around with it as you know. but i'd love to know more - especially the rules!!! it is a very textural piece of music. i love the way david allows his voice and words to wander around, through, and inside the textures. have a lovely evening. steven

Rachel Fenton said...

Kids are much the best people to talk to!

hope said...

Depending on the type of day I've had, I either read your blog first [to calm me] or last [to go gently into the night].

Thanks for being my daily "moment of Zen". :)

Jenny Stevning said...

Beautiful! I agree with Dan's comment.
My favorite is your third stanza. It makes my heart soften just reading it.

Pauline said...

sunrise & sunset - two favorite times of day. that photo is lovely!

steven said...

hi pauline - i took several as that sunset unfolded. this was the one. have a lovely evening steven

steven said...

hello rachel - yes. my day and then my evening is spent doing just that!! it keeps my head clear, young, and helps me value simple things. steven

Bee said...

I've discovered so much good music here, Stephen. A visit to your blog is always both soothing and uplifting (although those words imply such different, downward and upward, energies.)