Deep in the Quiet Wood
By James Weldon Johnson
Are you bowed down in heart?
Do you but hear the clashing discords and the din of life?
Then come away, come to the peaceful wood,
Here bathe your soul in silence. Listen! Now,
From out the palpitating solitude
Do you not catch, yet faint, elusive strains?
They are above, around, within you, everywhere.
Silently listen! Clear, and still more clear, they come.
They bubble up in rippling notes, and swell in singing tones.
Now let your soul run the whole gamut of the wondrous scale
Until, responsive to the tonic chord,
It touches the diapason of God’s grand cathedral organ,
Filling earth for you with heavenly peace
And holy harmonies.
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My Monday was, well, a Monday -- some stuff got written, some laundry got done, the birds got fed and then a squirrel went swinging on the feeder, scattering seed everywhere, so we had a little mouse alongside the sparrows, cardinals, chickadees, and occasional chipmunks on the deck. It was quite hot early on and pretty sticky when we took a walk, then some storms blew through and it cooled off a bit.
We watched mostly surfing in the Olympics coverage -- I never get tired of looking at beaches and waves -- and saw this weeks Republic of Sarah (consistently interesting) before PBS's screening on POV of Mayor, the funny-sad, fascinating documentary about the mayor of Ramallah during Christmas week and Prince William's visit. From the C&O Canal on Sunday, the muskrat munching in the lock:
