Having written five Blog Posts to kick off 2019, Mary & I took (and are still taking) a brief hiatus to 1) move and 2) deal with a couple of health issues (Forrest). We’re writing to say a large Thank You for sticking with us. We realize there is MUCH competition for your reading time; we’re grateful for those of you who click on our (on average) twice-monthly posts (approximately 5-minutes read per post) covering the topics of Parks, Poetry and Planet. We’re in our third year of writing this Blog and are having as much fun with it as we have had at any point in the process—much to learn, much to share on these topics.
Although maintaining our hiatus, we can’t help but note that April is National Poetry Month in the U.S. Having noted that, we’ve looked back through the many poems we’ve written over the years and chosen one to offer for this year’s National Poetry Month. I wrote this poem in 1998 and used it for my Christmas card 1999. We believe it is as relevant today as the day I wrote it; perhaps even more so. Thank you, Dear Ones, for caring, for sharing, for sticking with us in this effort. We appreciate you So!
Connected Reverence
The speed with which we lead our lives
quite often masks the hurts that lie
deep within our soul.
So, then, we need daily tries
to use the windows of our eyes
to reach the other soul.
Then, when connected, with love we rise
in connected reverence . . . above these skies
to a balanced whole.
© Forrest W. Heaton December, 1998
This was my historical reference note following my writing the poem: “On the occasion of reading Gary Zukav’s New York Times best seller, The Seat of the Soul, while enroute to Japan for a Christmas 1998/New Year’s visit with son, Matthew, & family, Zukav’s book inspiring this poem. Zukav’s thesis: humankind is evolving from a species pursuing ‘external power’, power ‘based on the five senses,’ to a species pursuing ‘authentic power’, power ‘based on perceptions and values of the spirit—meaning and purpose from Reverence, Compassion and Trust.’ ‘. . . . with reverence, our experiences become compassionate and caring. We shall come to honor all of life sooner or later. Our choices are when that shall happen, and the quality of the experience that we shall have as we learn.’ Connected Reverence. For my family and friends, and friends I’ve yet to meet.”