December 19, 2014

When Great Trees Fall

When Great trees Fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls, dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizended.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radieance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
aftrer a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregulary. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed."

Maya Angelou

The glass community is special. I know many people across the country and the world. The kindness that is shown is something quite amazing really. A little bit ago, a little secret santa opportunity popped up. A sort of exchange where one artist would make a necklace and earrings for an artist and they would exchange. I signed up. Truthfully, when ever I do these exchanges, I am typically a little disappointed. I can't really say why, as I don't expect much and am happy with what is gifted to me. So I made my necklace and earrings to exchange. I wasn't exactly happy with them, but I didn't have  more time to make more beads and create another set, so I sent them.
Today, I went to the mailbox. In it was a box for me. It did not dawn on me that it was the exchange items. I had been ordering some supplies to make hair clips for my grand daughters and for some reason I thought it was some of the supplies. So I opened it and unfolded the pink tissue paper.....and out falls this necklace.......the incredibly beautiful necklace and matching earrings. My breathe was sucked out of me, my knees even felt weak, as I reached for the necklace, I see a poem that was included.....I have already begun to cry at this point.....that somoene would be so kind and generous to send me such an amazing piece......then I read the poem that I printed above.........and it was all over........tears were streaming down my face.......the poem is exactly, exactly........my Dad. Oh how I want to make her another necklace and earrings....(LOL), I don't even think I could make something special enough for her. What a wonderful gift I was given. I could never thank her enough. Not only for the generous necklace and earrings but for the poem and just for caring enough about a perfect stranger to send a package so perfect........there just are no words. PHOTO COMING SOON!!!