Monday, September 20, 2010

Into the Presence of Still Water



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 where the great heron feeds


I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief


I come into the presence of still water.


And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light


For a time
I rest in the grace of the world.
and am free

—Wendell Berry
The Peace of Wild Things

_________________

Early morning kayaking on the North Canadian River
 in far northwest Oklahoma County
September 18, 2010  
Photos ©TR Ryan

10 comments:

Nina said...

Ahh.
Yes.

Territory Mom said...

Thank you, thank you

zeladoniac said...

Breathing deeply again. Thank you.

Loree said...

Beautiful images and poetry. Both conveyed the beauty of still water.

Oklahoma Girl said...

WOW!! & the peace settles around me. Beautiful, just beautiful!!

~~blessed be...

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Great pics and wonderful poem.

I gotta get out in the woods regularly to keep my head screwed on straight.

KodasTotems said...

This too is so lovely. The poetry and your images dance so beautifully together. (I emailed you a response to the story you gifted me...)

@okieprof said...

Magnificent...took my canoe down that river from El Reno to Overholser 3 years ago...towed it most of the way, a two day trip

What memories, what an adventure....good for you. Have since sold canoe, but saw things, experiece things, you only get when back in nature, to the timing of egrets and owls and fish and more. Thank you.

Müge said...

Beautiful photos and precious words! Iphoneography is a new and very interesting wave in photography and you are a very talented iphoneographer!

JDS said...

Nice pictures to complement the poem. And I thought NW Oklahoma would be all brown - shows how much I know!

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