The silence of a fifth day . . .

It's Freya's day … The Redbud tree across the street is in bloom next to the yellow Forsythia, and the Spring rains have begun in Okieland providing a thorough soaking of the mailbox...

In the indigenous view, humans are viewed as somewhat lesser beings in the democracy of species. We are referred to as the younger brothers of Creation, so like younger brothers we must learn from our elders. Plants were here first and have had a long time to figure things out. – Robin Wall Kimmerer writing for today's “Meditation” from the Center for Action and Contemplation, in Albuquerque.

“Now I know that uncertainty is the greatest miracle of all. When we hold ourselves open to the possibility of error, a blessing can arrive that we never imagined possible. The oceans can part and offer a way forward. A question blooms season after season, yielding new flowers, new ideas. But an answer is solid. It bears only one fruit. And very often, it is the wrong fruit.” – Sophie Strand, from The Madonna Secret, Bear & Company (August 15, 2023).

“Zen pretty much comes down to three things -- everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.”
― Jane Hirshfield

On the fifth day
the scientists who studied the rivers
were forbidden to speak
or to study the rivers. . .

The facts were told not to speak
and were taken away. . .

Bus drivers, shelf stockers,
code writers, machinists, accountants,
lab techs, cellists kept speaking.

They spoke, the fifth day,
of silence.

– Jane Hirshfield, “On the Fifth Day,” from Ledger (Knopf, 2020).