Poem of the Month: Septmber 2002

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

--Wendell Berry

Journal prompts:

• As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, reflect on how your life has, or has not, changed since the attacks.
• Finish this sentence: When despair for the world grows in me I _______
• Describe, in detail, a place where you "come into the peace of wild things."