On Safety by Nadine Pinede

When the storms of life
come bearing down
threatening to
lash you senseless,
seek shelter.
Find the warm
blanket you caress
like the felted fur
of your cat
curled before
a glowing hearth,
of breath that fills
both heart and earth.
Breathe.
There’s always time
to curse the darkness.
After the tears,
light a honeycomb candle
and heal your own sun.
The bridge
from sorrow to joy
may seem to vanish
in the flood,
but who says you
can’t join those
who cross over,
with a single
braided rope
of gratitude.

On Safety

The opening line of this poem by Nadine Pinede, is such a clear and comforting message: seek shelter from the inevitable storms of life. Take action, she is saying, because you can. Find that blanket that warms and soothes you. Even if you don’t have a cat, you can imagine the softness of fire-heated fur, the sensuous feel beneath your fingers.

Breathe, she says, that simple word I so often say to myself because I tend to forget. We can curse the darkness that appears in our lives, for a moment expressing our dissatisfaction. But then, she wants us to light a honeycomb candle to remind us of our own healing, the light we can choose to bring into the world.

It is true that the way from sorrow to joy may seem invisible to us, a bridge that may seem to vanish / in the flood. Yet she offers a lifeline for crossing over that dark river, by means of a single braided rope of gratitude. It is in the joining with others, with appreciation for how our thoughts and actions are woven together, that we remember how to find safety in the world.