Blog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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The World Below the Brine – 12 June 2008
By Mary T. Hoffman

The past few days have been very hot and humid. Very early this morning it was just a bit cooler and less humid, so I got out there and did some yard work – weed whacking and pruning – before the heat could build up again.

With all this hot weather, I felt like posting a poem about winter and snow today J, but then settled for this poem by Walt Whitman, The World Below the Brine:

The World Below the Brine
Walt Whitman
(1819 – 1892)
From Leaves of Grass

The world below the brine;
Forests at the bottom of the sea – the branches and leaves,
Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds, the thick
tangle, the openings, and the pink turf.
Different colors – pale gray and green, purple, white, and
gold, the play of light through the water;
Dumb swimmers there among the rocks – coral, gluten, grass,
rushes – and the aliment of the swimmers,
Sluggish existences grazing there suspended, or slowly
crawling close to the bottom,
The sperm-whale at the surface blowing air and spray, or
disporting with his flukes,
The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, the hairy
sea-leopard, and the sting-ray;
Passions there – wars, pursuits, tribes – sight in those
ocean-depths – breathing that thick-breathing air, as so many do;
The change thence to the sight here, and to the subtle air
breathed by beings like us, who walk this sphere;
The change onward from ours to that of beings who walk
other spheres.

For a short bio of Walt Whitman, as well as his poem Song of Myself, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/heart/blog-20080609.html 

For a collection of poems and stories, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/poetrydir.html

Go on to: Superstition – 13 June 2008
Return to: Pasta Primavera – 11 June 2008
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