As I Bend

Hours before dawn
hard rain soaks the streets,
in the distance
the outline of trees
buffeted by winter winds.
Though quiet in this room
I feel the world’s unrest.
Deceit sits astride our fate;
the clever regarded as saviors.
I can’t stand rigid
before these winds,
rather keep faith
and sway in the dark night,
for as I bend
I will not break.
On the horizon
the first gray light,
hours away
the coming dawn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading of “As I Bend” with music by Bob Dylan


 


14 Responses to “As I Bend”

  1. Patrick says:

    Lovely Don and to the chase.

  2. Tom Figel says:

    Don, I don’t remember much bend in you, and never any breakage. The poem is very well written. The line “clever regarded as saviors” immediately brought to mind some people we know in government and law.

  3. Lawrence Kiser says:

    Thanks Don, I loved the line “keep faith and sway in the dark night”. The feel of this offering is like the winters’ compost, the churning of the chaos externally seen or felt, with the knowing that all is well in the kingdom. “Out of the darkness comes the dawn of creation” is the way Paramahansa Yogananda once described the process.

  4. I love the curvature of this poem. It pulled up a line of mine from the depths of memory, “I am so soft I cannot be broken.”

  5. David Barnes says:

    Aho. Amen. It is so. Splendid poem Don, releasing an essential vibration into the world’s unrest, and within these words we share right now a new morning is at hand for all within this mighty Aumen.

  6. Mike McCauley says:

    Don — This is a beautiful, very meaningful & timely poem — in spite of what Tom Figel says. Your verse is a prayer for all of us. Thanks for sharing.

  7. Bob Morello says:

    Don, This one is a keeper for me! Very well done. Thank you.

  8. Maria Frid says:

    This gorgeous poem encourages, flexibility in spirit and movement through life. Rigidity not only breaks our bones but our spirits too! Thank you, dear friend!

  9. Keith says:

    The steadfastness of Spirit guides us, allowing us to know our limits. I’m reminded as I read this that we can only bend without breaking when our souls are rooted, like the trunk of a tree, deep in the earth, grounding us at our core.

  10. Rose Meeker says:

    Thanks for this, Don. This so describes my experience:

    Though quiet in this room
    I feel the world’s unrest.
    Deceit sits astride our fate;
    the clever regarded as saviors.

    And the softness of allowing, observing, simply being…

  11. Edward David Haimes says:

    “Blessed are the hearts that bend, they cannot be broken.” Albert Camus. I love the suppleness of spirit, revealing true strength. Thank you, Don for this day’s meditation.

  12. Veronica Lim says:

    Yes, “keep faith and sway” as the darkness of world consciousness swirls around us, with hearts open to the dawn to come.
    Thank you, Don.

  13. Christina Pivarnik says:

    Beautiful, Don, we bend and sway to the music of the spheres, never allowing rigidity to take hold. Lovely to share this dance with you. Thank you, always, for your sensitively crafted words.

  14. Chris Dalengas says:

    Very nice, Don! Yes, “the clever regarded as saviors.”

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