In Times of Hunger
As we enter into December and the festive season begins, the weather in my corner of the Tundra has decided to give us a break. We are about to enjoy some chinook winds. Chinooks are warm winds that come from the southwest. They frequent the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. If you are down Calgary way, it can get warm enough to shed the parka for shorts and a t-shirt, in the middle of January. It can also swing the other way. I remember coming home from school sick one afternoon at a balmy 14 degrees Celsius. I took a much needed sleep and woke to find a blizzard raging and minus 30 temperatures. The saying goes, if you don't like Calgary weather, wait a minute; it will change.
Farther up north, where I currently abide, things won't get quite that balmy, but meteorologists promise above freezing temperatures during the daytime. Not sure it will make much of a dent in the snow we are piling up, but it will make freezing to death less of a risk when outside. There are also some flurries predicted. Minime and I might dig out our snowshoes and go for a traipse around a nearby lake. Fingers crossed. And hopefully the bears are all tucked in for the season.
In between shivers, I have been slowly transferring some of my older Youtube videos over to Rumble. There seems to be a bigger audience there for them. The video below I recorded a whopping seven years ago, pre the C-19 scare, I discuss hunger. Not not just for a cheese burgers, but for physical and emotional desires. The things we want that for whatever reason remain out of reach. With Christmas coming up, despite the age of the video, it might be just in time. I found it rather helpful to listen to my older self. Like to return to where she was. Maybe it might help you too. As always leave me a comment if you did indeed listen in.
Click here for the video
For those who would like to see the poem in one big chunk or listen to it, Scroll down for spoken word.
12
We see with our eyes
Not our hands
We taste with our mouths
Not our eyes
We fill our stomachs
Not our minds
Your mind cannot be filled
Only unsettled and blocked
Hands will grasp
Eyes will desire
Stomachs will hunger
Fill the stomach, tend to the body
Smile at your desires
Let them pass in and out of view
Never grasp
Settle the mind
So Hivelanders, as we make our way into the gift giving season, remember to first to give yourself the greatest gift: care for the spirit or psyche, if you prefer. Then enjoy all the other riches to be found in our material existence and at this time of year:) Homeamde eggnog, anyone?
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Words and Images are my own.
12 is published in 81, Poems from the Tao. 81 is available in paperback or digital through amazon and your local libraries and bookstores. Click on any title below to further explore and support my writing.
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True to the words are the lines of the last para. Written so well.
Thank you:)
We learn a lot from poetry and we use it in our life.