Still Searching

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Monday Morning Musings:

“Whatever they turn out to be,
Let there be swarms of them,
Enough for immortality,
Always a star where we can warm ourselves.”
–Rebecca Elson, “Let There Always Be Light (Searching for Dark Matter)”

Foggy Morning at the River

Still Searching

After the wind roars
shedding fractious tears, the moon
hums a lullaby, settles
robins and us, while owl
arises without a sound, as

mothers hide their young,
aware of danger, always
nature gives and takes, balance
and circles, eternal
questions fly without answers, hope

Geese and Goslings

with feathers and claws
waiting to snag some morsel
of truth. Perceiving the stars,
the ghostly past echoes
so we can find light in darkness.

Just past sunrise, Delaware River at West Deptford

Early Morning Light at Red Bank Battlefield in Late May

Now there is friendship
of decades, of children grown,
of new love, births, joy, sorrow.
Understanding conveyed
with a glance, life stories re-told.

Now the air is washed
the breeze whistles in major
chords, no lonesome blues, only
azure of spring dreams, no
matter that we’re living autumn.

Flora and Fauna, Fog and Sunshine

Bats at dusk

We watch the bats soar
into violet night, flit-
flitter, zipping like a thought,
synaptic connections,
we, a piece of a larger whole. . .

and still searching.

This is a wayra sequence, except for the final two words.
I woke up not feeling well this morning, but I’m fine now. It’s been a strange week. The weather again has been crazy—fog, sunshine, thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and now after summer heat and storms, we’re back to a beautiful spring day. The world continues to move towards authoritarianism. The Republican party here is openly embracing it and actively working to end our democratic system. They’re not even trying to hide it anymore. And their supporters cheer them on. Will they still cheer, I wonder, when they’re still poor and there are no government services to help them, no rules regulating business, health, transportation. . .?

We went to a surprise birthday party, and I’m going to hope no one had COVID, as the numbers are rising again.

We started watching Night Sky, a new series on Amazon Prime. All I needed to hear was Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons, and they are excellent, of course. They play a long-time married couple with a secret—buried deep under their old shed is a portal to another world. We’ve watched 3 ½ episodes so far, and I’m intrigued to see what will happen.

36 thoughts on “Still Searching”

  1. I didn’t notice that the stanzas were wayra, but they add a restlessness to the piece, maybe the weather, your changing mood, the political situation, but it works to gather up the whole.
    The far right politics of populism terrify me. You ask, what will the great mass of ordinary people do when they tear up the laws and find they’re just as poor? I imagine they’ll do what they always so, they’ll turn on the scapegoats their great leaders have singled out to distract them from their problems. And we all know where that leads.

    • The last couple of days I’ve felt like I couldn’t concentrate–and I didn’t know what I wanted to write about, so I think the wayra gave me a bit of focus.
      Yes, you’re right about the scapegoats. That is how it works, and it’s started.

  3. Like Jane, I felt the restlessness of this piece. The weather, the politics, the on-going new strains of Covid. It does take its toll, doesn’t it.
    As for Night Sky, I was wondering about it. I’ll have to see if Marc is up for a new show once we finish The Staircase. I love Colin Firth and he plays his role so well, I don’t like Mike! (played by him) 😉

  4. Strange time of year Merril. Everything is strange and tenuous. Your photographs in and of Nature bring a balance of beauty. Thank you – and we’re up the creek here in SA. I wish I was an ostrich –

  9. Geese are certainly expanding their nurseries and giving swimming lessons to their goslings on our lake too. . . . as if!
    Favorite lines: Now the air is washed
    the breeze whistles in major
    chords, Very melodious, just like the sounds of the seasons.
    Thanks, Merril!

  10. The photos are lovely, reflecting that washed air. These two lines went into my favorite metaphors folder:

    the breeze whistles in major
    chords, no lonesome blues.

    As for the political situation, the authoritarians appear to have misinterpreted David Byrne’s “Road to Nowhere” as a rallying cry instead of a dire warning.

  11. I love these lines: “Perceiving the stars,
    the ghostly past echoes
    so we can find light in darkness.” I’m a bit braindead right now, otherwise, I’d try to explain why these lines, in particular, move me. We were in upstate (way upstate) NY for about 10 days and didn’t get much news except for a few minutes here and there. Once I got home, I started reading, and what a mistake. Drop-kicked into a black hole. This lurch toward authoritarianism is frightening and overwhelming. I have to believe that we–those that believe in democracy–will have the strength and tools to fight back and win against these fascists. But living in Florida makes it so hard to feel hopeful 😦

  13. such a breath of fresh air and beauty in your words and pictures displayed with such meaning and joy. I do hope you are feeling more like yourself today. Wonderful post Merril! 💖

  15. A couple of others have already commented on this but I’ll add to the chorus of having felt the restlessness in your words. I hope you’re feeling better now. The weather has been so weird this year. We had to turn the heat on last night, just a few days after hitting nearly 100 degrees. I suppose it will settle down soon.

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