The Thrasher
It was dead in the bike lane
stiff from spirit’s leaving.
I pedaled past but couldn’t
leave prayers unsaid.
Couldn’t leave without words
honoring the brown and white
feathers and beauty once ensouled
in a small body capable of flight.
I scooped her up, head resting
on padded glove, fingers free
to feel the exquisite softness of
feathers now covering a lifeless form.
I took her down the hill to the small grove
of live oaks, somehow spared the
developers dozer.
A fork in the sturdy tree became
the final resting place for the
innocent thrasher.
I hope there was no nest
of hungry babes awaiting
the next feeding.
And if so may their hunger
be sated by a swift and sweet
passage into that other world
of Spirit where all is well.
Simone Lipscomb
For the Thrasher on the Beach Highway, Orange Beach, Alabama
Totality
There is a beginning
a middle
and an end.
We have no say
in how long
we stay
in the middle…
but how sacred,
how wondrous
is that time.
Celebration at the beginning,
Sadness at the end.
In the middle is
where love grows.
Let not this ending
erase the totality
of beauty and magic
this amazing soul
brought to everyone
who knew her.
___________
I woke up the morning after a dear friend’s sister passed with this poem rumbling around inside. I sleepily reached for paper and pen while repeating the words as they knocked against my mind.
Roberta was a beautiful soul who did so much for the Miami community. She brought people together and they loved her for it. Her passing was a shock. It was as if a bright lamp in a lighthouse was suddenly extinguished.
I decided to share this poem because too often we forget the positive effect we have on the lives of others. Lately, life has really held me in a vise grip and I have doubted my work, path….all of it. It’s been a time of deep soul searching.
Today, a friend of mine shared how much she appreciated my writing and photography and what it means to her and how much she loves me. Tears flowed as we shared. Eydie has been a constant support and cheerleader for me here on the Alabama coast. She has championed my work like none other here.
We never know how our efforts in the world will create something that touches another person and truly, it’s not any of our business how it is received. Our only task is to listen to the call of our heart and follow its promptings. And then simply let it go.
We are all here in the middle….together. Shall we recognize the beauty and magic within ourselves and in others? Shall we begin now?