… here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart).
~ ee cummings
The world has many secrets. Some are ancient but new ones are made (and revealed) daily. This one is probably the most wonderful. It’s what allows people to go on and remain connected to one another, despite the suffering brought on by separation, either through death or some other circumstance.
Someone might read Cumming’s poem and think of romantic love, another the love between a parent or grandparent and a child, the love between siblings or friends or the love of God. Regardless of how many hearts we hold within our hearts, somehow, they are always large enough to hold these all in. And that, in itself, is a wonder.
This morning’s clear November sky allowed me to find these images: the root in an upturned tree (the negative image is shown), the bud in one of next year’s frosted Rhododendron buds, and a spruce tree at sunrise along the salt marsh trail. Birch and maple leaves provided the background for the shape of the heart within a heart.
Flandrum Hill 