That was that

[ailbhe]

Things I did:

Got dressed, twice because of mud.
Had a shower all to myself.
Had breakfast and nice coffee.
Got kids dressed.
Emptied and refilled dishwasher twice.
Washed a bunch of stuff by hand.
Watched a couple of episodes of David Attenborough from 1978, with the children.
Took in bag of peat-free compost.
Planted potatoes and carrots.
Took in new cycle rack.
Made space for it, parked bikes in it.
Washed concrete between kitchen wall and next door's fence.
Washed part of patio again.
Moved patio slab to give ivy heavy darkness to die in.
Cut ivy down to roots.
Cut jasmine bush back hard; really need to saw it up but not strong enough.
Sent kids to play with neighbour.
Had neighbour over to play.
Cooked lunch.
Heated up dinner.
Washed one load of laundry and one only.
Helped Emer and Astrid do art.
Half-reassembled the alphabet wall frieze thing. It'll be finished tonight.

And a poem I liked as a teenager, and still like now.
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
of water flowing, rising, and falling,
sometimes advancing, sometimes receding . . .
May the stream of your life flow unimpeded!
Deep peace of the running wave to you!

Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
which fans your face on a sultry day,
the air which you breathe deeply rhythmically,
which imparts to you energy, consciousness, life.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you !

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
who, herself unmoving, harbours the movements
and facilitates the life of the ten thousand creatures,
while resting contented, stable, tranquil.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you!

Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
which stay invisible til darkness falls
and discloses their pure and shining presence
beaming down in compassion on our turning world.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you!

Comments

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

There's an amazingly beautiful musical setting of the poem, although I have no idea who wrote it.

[coughingbear]

It's Rutter - it's on YouTube here.

(Sorry for the first comment - this laptop doesn't do equals signs.)

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

I've sung that! It is lovely.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I needed that poem tonight. Thank you.

[ai731.livejournal.com]

That poem was the inspiration for the inscription I put on the back of a quilt I made as a friend's wedding gift:

"Power of the running wave,
Gentleness of the flowing air,
Brightness of the shining stars,
Stillness of the quiet earth, and
Peace of the infinite, to you both."

[snorkel-maiden.livejournal.com]

Who is the poem by? It's lovely.

[ailbhe]

It is often credited as "translated from the Celtic" or "translated from the Gaelic." It may well be by a neo-pagan hippie from Maine, for all I know...