These days, as our country mutates into something foul and ignoble, I turn to Nature again and again to find solace. Sometimes I feel almost desperate in my search for a peaceful distraction. It reminds me of the fledglings I see at our feeders in the spring, fluttering their wings insistently in a drumbeat of demand. “Feed me! Feed me!” they insist, over and over again, as the adult birds patiently tend to them. Somedays, I feel like I owe Mother Nature a big apology for my ongoing neediness. She definitely has my gratitude.
These days, I’ve also been rereading Wendell Berry’s well-known “The Peace of Wild Things.” It’s a poem I’ve turned to again and again over the years. It begins
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…
I’m so grateful to live in a place where I’m surrounded by beauty. I’m so grateful to be a part of supportive communities.
This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Rose Cappelli at her blog, Imagine the Possibilities. This community is another place where you can find solace.
Nix the comfort zone 
That water spider poem is just so pretty! I love the conversation of words and ideas with the photo. And, yes…bring on autumn! Thanks, asters!
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Autumn is definitely making inroads up here! The asters are still cheering up a storm 🙂
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Thank you for this peaceful post, Molly. I agree that dwelling in nature helps during these difficult times.
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It’s such an antidote to poisonous news.
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Lovely image poems that take me to a peace of wild things. We are both blessed to live in quiet, near nature. I spent the week in New Orleans and while they have boulevards and parks and bayous, the hustle of traffic is always a block away. I’m happy to be home. I’m inspired to try image poems.
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Remember when we exchanged photos as prompts? We could try that again 🙂
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October prompt!
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There is so much hope in your photo-poems — when the world is on fire and I can drown in a water strider’s reflection.
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The smallest things can provide such a soothing balm.
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Thanks for your lovely, inspiring poems. Much needed solace for these times.
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My younger daughter just showed me a photo of a squirrel that lives in a tree hole in our front yard. It is so cute that it made my blood pressure go down 😉 Thank you, Nature! A true friend. I love those cheering aster pom poms!
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Ha! I love the idea of squirrels as antidotes to rising blood pressure. Keep watching it! I’m sure it will continue to provide lots of entertainment!
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I forgot I said that until I saw your comment…my afternoon yesterday was spent watching them. Turns out there was a whole family in the hole and something happened to the mother, so the babies were wandering around our yard. I didn’t find out about it until the neighbor’s dog had snatched one, and then I felt like I had to “guard” them until they went back in the hole at their “bedtime.” I am wondering what today will bring!
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Yes–the peace of wild things. Humans are turning out to be wilder than assumed. Regular nature may be violent more regularly, but it’s not nearly so bloodthirsty. Thank goodness for nature to heal us.
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It certainly is hard to have any sort of faith in humanity during these days.
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Nature’s solace! Well-put. Hannah and I were out on the Cutts Island Trail as part of the Rachel Carson Nature Preserve in nearby Kittery. What a way to start the day with an hour getting Vitamin N.
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