Holly Hughes
But the mind always
wants more than it has—
one more bright day of sun,
one more clear night in bed
with the moon; one more hour
to get the words right; one
more chance for the heart in hiding
to emerge from its thicket
in dried grasses—as if this quiet day
with its tentative light weren’t enough,
as if joy weren’t strewn all around.
read the whole poem here
When this poem came across my screen recently, I had the kind of response that I sometimes do, a ‘must-have’, as my daughter would say.
Though the first stanza is evocative in its descriptions, it is the second that grabbed me by the heart. Yes, of course, the mind always wants more than it has, like a child who wants one more cookie, one more bedtime story.
On this rainy day, one more bright day of sun, calls to me. With the moon coming into fullness, I shall be wanting one more clear night in bed with the moon.
The line that especially caught my attention was one more hour to get the words right. That just may be my last wish, always looking for the ‘right’ words as I do.
One more chance for the heart in hiding to emerge from its thicket in dried grasses – well yes, we can always ask for one more opportunity to open our hearts and it will be given.
as if this quiet day
with its tentative light weren’t enough,
as if joy weren’t strewn all around.
These final lines bring me to my knees, as if, as if enough is not all around us, as if joy is not there to be seen if we are not blinded by wanting more. This is a lesson I need to relearn over and over. May it be so for each of us.
Heart Poems 
Jan, this is just so beautiful and too true. this is one I’ll print to have on hand. Thank you so much! Margaret
“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.”
Thich Nat Hanh
>
LikeLike
Thank you Jan. what a clearly beautiful way of describing the grasping mind, the unsatisfactory quality of the human condition.
LikeLike
People say that joy is a stronger feeling,than than happiness. Joy is also said to be less common. Perhaps it only comes to us on those grey wistful days, when we can lose ourselves in the sleepy ease of the day. Let go the urgency of greed and wanting. The driving need of looking for something more than what is right there, before us, in the here and now.
Perhaps then, we experience joy because we let our ego go, seep away from us, thereby achieving some sense of selflessness.
LikeLike