"sharing a rocking chair"
May your body relax in the presence of someone you trust.
May you taste orange marmalade, tart and sweet, and remember your tongue.
Two female students sharing a rocking chair, Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota
Bedtime
by Denise Levertov
We are a meadow where the bees hum,
mind and body are almost one
as the fire snaps in the stove
and our eyes close,
and mouth to mouth, the covers
pulled over our shoulders,
we drowse as horses drowse afield,
in accord; though the fall cold
surrounds our warm bed, and though
by day we are singular and often lonely.
from Poems 1960-1967 © New Directions Publishing, 1983
Creative Invitation
Bring to mind and heart an important—cherished—or confusing—relationship. Ask yourself for a visual metaphor of the relationship. Like Levertov’s “a meadow where the bees hum” — or a hoop skirt with two girls inside it — or a stagnant swamp with a cruising alligator—or yours, your image, your exact image for the emotional truth of that relationship. Then write it down and build the metaphor by adding more details or expanding the view. Hold in focus the world the metaphor creates and the relationship itself, at the same time.
Please respond and share your metaphor, if you feel so moved!