read this poem, will you? and tell me, do you love it as much as i do?
On Nest Building
Carol Lynn Pearson
Mud is not bad for nest building.
Mud and sticks.
And a fallen feather or two will do
And require no reaching.
I could rest there with my tiny ones
Sound for the season, at least.
But
If I may fly a while--
If I may cut through a sunset going out
And a rainbow coming back
Color upon color sealed in my eyes--
If I may have the unboundaried skies
For my study
Clouds, cities, rivers for my rooms--
If I may search the centuries
For melody and meaning--
If I may try for the sun--
I shall come back
Bearing such beauties
Gleaned from God's and the world's very best.
I shall come filled.
And then--
Oh, the nest I can build!
i adore it. i've been thinking about it a lot lately. some of us fight the urge to do too much, be too many places, pursue too many interests. others of us are so very content just to stay put in our nests that we miss chances to enrich and enlarge ourselves; we don't hear the melodies or see the rainbows and the people in our nests miss the trickle down of that beauty. i identify more with the latter. the flying and searching require a lot of effort. (and a babysitter.) so lots of times i just coast, complacent. and quite content. and mostly i think that's just fine, a gift even. but every so often i feel my soul tapping, nudging me to nurture the me that exists outside of my husband and my children. knowing that the more there is of me, the more there is for them.
and i want a nest full of sunlight and melody.
- em
do you feel this?
what do you do for you?
what do you do for you?
13 comments:
I think that when we are given that gift a flight from our nest just for a bit..then upon return we feel ever grateful for it's beauty and wonderment.
What I have found works well for me as a busy mom is to have ONE "other" thing at a time. Learning a new skill could be it (it was knitting for a minute, and I hope it's quilting sometime soon). Or being in a play or a musical group. Or taking a class. Sometimes a big church calling is the one thing. Right now learning Spanish and navigating a foreign culture is it. If I try to do a bunch of things outside of my home and family at once, I don't even enjoy it. Maybe some other people are better at juggling than I am, but this has been my experience.
I like to do something that is entirely unconnected to my life as a mother, and something where I'm either learning a new skill or exercising (preferably both). Things I've really enjoyed in the past: yoga classes, quilting classes, and training for races (this last is my favorite because I do it with my husband). I used to use teaching at the local university as a real outlet, but now that I teach online it's all the yucky parts (grading) and none of the fun (interacting with the students face-to-face).
I think Liz has a good point about not doing too much--because then it just is overwhelming rather than rejuvenating. And I like what Christie said about how it makes us feel upon returning. Yesterday I was so exhausted and tired of being Wife and Mother all day. I went running and just processed everything and made goals and when I came home, I was full of love for the people I was running away from an hour earlier. :-)
Love it! I see it as a describing a woman's need not only to beautify and better her environment, as many of like to do as we decorate our houses and plant our gardens, but to beautify and better herself. Our nest is a reflection of ourselves. Our home is better for our growth, even if that growth might be difficult to schedule or draw us out of our comfort zone. Great reminder! I think I'm going to post this one on the fridge.
oh, i really like this. a lot.
I love this poem and have loved all her poems since I was a teen (a hundred years ago). There is such beauty in everything she writes. Thanks for sharing this.
Oh I feel it! And I'm grateful for other women expressing this need. I am still learning how to be comfortable in my own skin (really? still at 30? My 16 yr old self would be disappointed) so when I hear that other mothers don't need to go outside their home for fulfillment I start to doubt myself and think that something is wrong with me since I crave it every once in awhile. Thank you for this poem. Next time I doubt myself I will read this!
oh I love this as I have been searching for what my other thing should be as I REALLY need an outlet! I love being Mommy of 5 with all of my heart, but am finding I need something else to me ME.
I love this poem. I think it goes far beyond just "breaks" as a mother. It is not wallowing in the "mud" but living with everything you've been given before you came here and that is all around you. It is a call to live "beyond" the day to day... or rather, seeing the silver lining in the day to day... and the vision for the day to day. We are not just cleaning house and raising kids... we are creating worlds and gods in embryo. We have wonder to share. We have beauty to embrace. We have vision to inspire. We have lives to feed. We have souls to save. We have so much above us and behind us ("If I may search the centuries" - tender mothers have spanned the centuries before us... ), so much in front of us and all around us to draw from... we are NOT ALONE in this endeavor: We are of God's most precious creations - and if we can feel that echo of and call to motherhood that transcends time, place, and day to day... there is no limit to what we can do! It could be viewed as ironic that all of these simple grandeurs are mentioned - they, in actuality, are metaphors - they define the vitality of the role we are given as women: above the rainbows, the clouds, the sunsets, cities, rivers, colors and centuries' happenings... none can compare to the holding a child in your arms!
I have found it best to dig in deeper to motherhood.
Beautiful poem, and I love your thoughts too.
wow, we are so on the same wavelength. I just read this again in my book of CLP's poetry and it really stood out to me. I even read it in a podcast interview I did on Monday. I really think that we can build better nests when we have the opportunity to fly.
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