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Instructions Pour Ne Pas Abandonner

By Ada Limón
Apr 8, 2023 1 min read
Plus que les entonnoirs fuchsia qui éclatent
du pommier sauvage, plus que celui du voisin
exposition presque obscène de branches de cerisier poussant
leurs fleurs couleur barbe à papa sur l'ardoise
ciel de pluies printanières, c'est le verdissement des arbres
Ça me touche vraiment. Quand tout ce choc blanc
et le caramel, les bibelots et les babioles du monde, partent
le trottoir jonché de confettis des conséquences,
les feuilles poussent. Patientes, laborieuses, la peau verte
grandissant malgré tout ce que l'hiver nous a fait, un retour
à l'étrange idée de vivre continuellement malgré
Notre désordre, notre souffrance, notre vide. Très bien, alors,
Je le prendrai, semble dire l'arbre, une nouvelle feuille lisse
se déployant comme un poing dans une paume ouverte, je prendrai tout.
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9 PAST RESPONSES

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Varsha Apr 9, 2023
Patient, plodding, and all this after the the mess we made of us, really brings that beauty is still innate within ourselves, really great expressive poem with clear images to hold
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sadhana Apr 8, 2023
It is beautiful as carries it carries a depth.
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Lynn Apr 8, 2023
I love it when nature showers me with the petals of her celebrations. It is like a yearly baptism into beauty and the miracle of renewal, minus words or the burdens of philosophies. Man made spectacles can be obscene. A flowering cherry tree? Never.
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Tiffany Apr 8, 2023
💖🙏🦋
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Patrick Apr 8, 2023
“ growing over whatever winter did to us, a return
to the strange idea of continuous living despite
the mess of us, the hurt, the empty.” 🙏🏽❤️
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Sharon Bauer Apr 8, 2023
This startled me into tears. Thank you.
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Patrick Apr 8, 2023
For times just such as these… This morning I am reminded too of this (below) which is encouraged in Ada’s poetry— Solidarity Through Intimacy— This can be a tough lesson to swallow when we consider people we loath or consider “enemies.” Yet, when the incarnate Christ of Divine LOVE (Jesus of Nazareth) taught on this he specifically said that loving one another meant those people as well. So, while I abhor the evil that some do and say, I know I must still love them as God’s children even while speaking the Truth in LOVE to evil behavior. This has me thinking about the intimate and healing nature of talking story with another, including those I may not usually choose to do so with. I believe, that in the intimacy of one-on-one story sharing, LOVE (God) can speak to the heart of even the most incorrigible. Yes, even him?! Give me an hour alone, uninterrupted, to speak “Beloved” to him and the Spirit of LOVE may just transform him into the child God inte... [View Full Comment]
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Helen Apr 8, 2023
walking to the train
seeing spiraling blossoms
opening again
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Kristin Pedemonti Apr 8, 2023
Thank you for reminding us of patient plodding unfurling
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