Darkness has been part of my journey. Walking has been part of my healing. This past week i took again the walk I did so many times with Marianne. I took a break. I looked down at my feet and found the feather of a blue jay. It brought to mind another feather from another walk in another season years ago. It brought comfort.
It is the far point of my walk today I sit on a bench tenderly placed in memory of a loved one And I warm myself in the sun On this cool day in late autumn. The walk was a blessing One shared with me many times by my beloved Who has given me a simple message Do only what you need to do Or what calls to you in your heart. And so I did I knew I wanted to come here To enjoy the green moss and the brown leaves A patch of red remaining here and there The sound of gently flowing water. I found a feather It is my token of remembrance Of this cool sunny December day When I found again The simple joy and light That is always present Even in the midst of darkness.
That is beautiful.
“Feather of Remembrance” – What a beautiful title! Feather is ever-present since our friends with wings accompanied us through our lives. Feather is also symbolic of something fleeting, something not permanent physically but everlasting in its remembrance. Somehow the line “I sit on the bench tenderly placed in the memory of the love one” moved me to the bone. It is a beautifully expressed longing for something divinely significant. Feathers are sacred gifts from the above, a show of force from the heavens that they are listening to our prayers, our wishes, and our desires. It’s a symbol of acknowledgment, that someone or something in the spirit world is looking out for us, keeping us safe and empowering us on whatever path we set upon.
Thank you so much, Aldona, for these beautiful reflections on my poem. The “bench tenderly placed in memory of a loved one” is at what used to be the terminus of the Sugar Creek Greenway–a walk I took many times with Marianne, beginning from the parking lot of the McAlpine Creek Greenway on Monroe Rd. (I also did that walk with our mutual friend Alan, once a week for several years.) Perhaps we could do the walk together sometime. That invitation also extends to other friends reading this blog who live in Charlotte!
And a strong yes to your last sentence about someone or something in the spirit world looking out for us. We are not alone. https://longingforautumn.org/2021/05/we-are-not-alone/.