Ordinary Miracles

 Ordinary Miracles.

Today I am so tired

I have no space in me for big.

So I must return 

to the small ordinary miracles;

to the way the cup 

and the bowl 

laid upon this table, 

once earth themselves, now,

after fire's touch

are something else 

entirely,

and give themselves 

freely,

and with the 

simple symmetry 

of their curved line

to the holding 

of emptiness 

or fullness.

Or I will drink tea, 

and follow it's warmth 

and healing touch 

within and without,

and mingle my breath 

with its vapour and 

touch the journey 

of its essence 

from far away lands 

to here, to now, to me.

Or spend time 

simply remembering

that between the covers 

of the books 

upon my shelves 

are held minds, lives, worlds, 

stories, wisdom 

that will all last longer 

than this little body of mine.

Or marvel 

at the striped stones 

upon the shore 

that tell deep time, 

layer by layer 

and recall wild days 

of disaster and dancing 

in their still sea vigil 

slowly loosing 

their grains and building 

beaches for children's hands 

to make sand castles with 

until the next tide 

sets them swimming again.

Or just knowing 

that already I have seen 

a seed become a tree 

become a log 

become a fire 

become dust 

and become soil 

for seed's planting.

Or watch the sky 

and know that the blue 

is still behind the clouds 

and the stars still shine 

even in the day.

Or simply sit 

with the slow rhythm 

of breath

knowing its biology 

as blessing, 

its divine anchoring 

as presence and prayer.

Today, I am so tired 

I have no space in me

for big questions, 

queries, feelings, 

problems, pains, 

plans, 

whether mine 

or others,

so I will just sit 

with the small ordinary 

miracles of being; 

breathing, watching, 

touching, tasting 

the now, 

and in the now 

knowing

the love 

from which all that is, 

is.

I will dwell there, 

today, 

in the wonder 

of it all,

in the wildness of 

the small 

ordinary miracles

of being.

(An older one today but its how I’m feeling and a good reminder to me to seek and find the extraordinary in the ordinary. May it be such an invitation to you too in these quarantined quiet days)