Wednesday
Jun092010
Thread the needle with silence
June 9, 2010 * * * * * Posted by: Eliza 
The moon by arrangement grows full, begins in returning us our night vision.
Cycles we follow. Anticipations we chase, lost on a future ship not yet seaworthy.
Stars are no longer lights, and fists in the sky carry earth's anger.
There is no walking away.
If, in sight of the moon, we can free our eyes from their fixed positions,
here the possibilities of distance open in the remaining seas.
Without easing aloneness we come to be where we are.
Life is fragile, our pieces are connected to the same puzzle.
Thread the needle with silence, by Jack Crimmins
I'm not sure I'm going to explain this so well, but there is something about this piece of writing (this piece of writing that 'found me', I know it sounds silly, but it's true) that makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck; that makes my skin go cold and and prickly. It is almost guaranteed to bring me to a halt, from whatever mundane thing I'm doing, and stop...just stop. How can words do that?
You know I can't even remember where I first read it, but I wrote it down in a red chinese silk journal that I have always carried. I gave it to a man once - the poem - who was crashing and burning. His life was falling apart in front of my eyes and somehow at that moment I felt so connected to him. But I couldn't speak, I couldn't say the words, couldn't say anything. But this. And he understood.
It was the same once with a book I was reading whilst on a plane heading out of some particularly mad African world, one that hadn't been particularly good or healthy for me for far too long. Feeling brittle and edgy, I curled up in the plane seat, which at 6" is no mean feat, and flew out. Sogal Rinpoche said, for it was his book I was reading at the time and his words that I had stumbled on, "So each time the losses and deceptions of life teach us about impermanence, they bring us closer to the truth. When you fall from a great height, there is only one place to land. On the ground of truth. Falling is in no way a disaster, but the discovery of an inner refuge"
This post is with thanks to Marcie who, through her post a week back, made me go and find my red Chinese silk book - dig it out of a box long since stored down in the old coffee factory that acts as our spill-over for all things. With growing panic, because it wasn't where I first thought it would be, I made one hell of a mess. But then with relief, there it was at the bottom of an old safari trunk. And there was Jack and there was Sogal; Karen Blixen was there too - she would be of course, Rabindranath Tagore who I have always loved; Pablo Neruda popped out with some words from End of the World, and then a particularly wondrous piece I adore from Women who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, sadly too long to replicate here. There are even the words from a Michelle Shocked song...something that must have resonated with me at some particular time. Old friends almost...
Reader Comments (13)
I've now re-read the words you've written..the quotes you've chosen to share three times. Each time - I find more meaning..deeper meaning. So many truths in these few words. I'm rendered totally speechless - both by the depth and feelings painted with words..and your magical image that has its own story and dream attached.
Thank-you!!!
Marcie is right...words like this you need to read slowly and not hurry them along, lest you lose them. My red Chinese silk journal was a small leather 3-ring notbook in which I collected those things, as you said, that brought me to a dead stop. I lost the notebook in a fire but still remember many of the quotes, written on the walls of my heart. Now I'm curious about what passage in WWRWTW is wondrous to you! It is one of the few books I brought with me to my new country. Your words today have suddenly inspired in me a new post for another day. That's the beauty of this collaboration! Thank you, Eliza.
eliza i would love to know which passage you loved in women who run with the wolves. i just recently started thinking about that book, long since having lent it to someone and never returned. i bought one, last week at a used book store. this is a great post.
That is a wonderful quote, even just the title is incredible. Your image is perfect with it, and perfect on its own, stunning. It is amazing how words, strung together and written by someone else can change your life. we gravitate towards the ones that resonate with us.
And p.s., I love Michelle Shocked, there are a couple of her songs that run through my mind quite often even though I haven't actually listened to them in over 10 years.
Stunning, the image and all the beautiful words.
Oh the power of the word. So glad you found your Chinese journal.
What a powerful post and picture!! One can both pull strength out of the quote and by looking at that amazing photo of a woman embracing the world. To mind come words like: Balance, Happiness, Empathy and Curiosity.
Thank you.
i love that picture. beautiful.
i agree that sometimes falling for awhile can help us become who we want to be, when we stop that is.
books help me. a lot. i read 2 or 3 a week. they help me when i'm sad, they make me laugh and cry. i love books.
Beautiful words and image, but the writers you mention are all new to me, and now i want to read them all. thanks for introducing them to me.
What a glorious photo, Eliza. I came and read your post yesterday, but had such a horrible headache that I just couldn't respond. Such beautiful words. I love it when the written word can stop you dead in your tracks and hit you to the core. I, too, have a book wherein I write special quotes down that I don't want to forget and I refer back to them often.
Bravo!
Love how the words enhance the feeling of the image.
thank you for your sharing.. i find the words you share are so useful for my own personal reflection..
keep inspiring.. ^*^