Begin Here

Hello friends! I thought I'd kick things off by re-sharing an old favorite. I entered it in a contest a few years ago: the prompt was to write about reconciliation, and one of the encouraged sources for inspiration was Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, one of my top-ten favorite books. It's where the first line is from.

I also just realized the title of this poem is quite apt for my first post here. Don't you love when that happens? I also realized I should maybe introduce this space but there's an About page (feat. lots of quotes!) and a welcome email if you subscribe so I'll let those suffice. Let's get on with the poetry. Here we go—

“I don't forgive him. I wouldn't know where to begin.”

Begin here: with the sunrise soaring over the sea 
Unstoppable, a silent roar and sweet fury, 
Gathering us all as its crop, reaping what has grown 
Of our love and our hate, shaking the latter from us 
Like chaff, sowing us again, side-by-side, 
In the soil of our tears. The sun full-grown kisses us: 
                  begin here.

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My plan is to post a poem a week, with a few longer prose pieces sprinkled in. However this space ends up looking, I can’t wait for what’s to come. Thanks for being here. Here’s to awakening together.

~ Aberdeen