Dreaming of Stones - Poem Video by Christine Valters Paintner

 *Dreaming of Stones*

In the world before waking
I meet a winged one,
feathered, untethered,
who presses in my palm
three precious stones,
like St. Ita in her dream,
but similarities end there,
her with saintliness and certainty,
me asking questions in the dark.

All I know is
I am not crafted from
patience of rock or gravity of earth,
nor flow of river,
I am not otter with
her hours devoted to play.
I am none of these.
At least not yet.

The stones will still be singing
centuries from now,
made smooth by
all kinds of weather.
If I strike them together,
they spark and kindle.
Do I store them as treasures
to secretly admire
on storm-soaked days?
Or wear them as an amulet
around my neck?

When the angel returns to me
in the harsh truth of last morning,
will she ask
what have I endured,
treasured, and sparked?
Will she ask what have I hidden away
and what made visible?

---Christine Valters Paintner
(this poem first appeared in Spiritus journal)

Video by Morgan Creative - morgancreative.org/

Dreaming of Stones - Poem Video on Vimeo

 

If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s

Joseph Campbell

 

The antidote to exhaustion isn’t rest. It’s wholeheartedness

David Whyte

How to Build an Igloo by Douglas Wilkinson (1949)

"This classic short film shows how to make an igloo using only snow and a knife. Two Inuit men in Canada’s Far North choose the site, cut and place snow blocks and create an entrance--a shelter completed in one-and-a-half hours. The commentary explains that the interior warmth and the wind outside cement the snow blocks firmly together. As the short winter day darkens, the two builders move their caribou sleeping robes and extra skins indoors, confident of spending a snug night in the midst of the Arctic cold!"

How to Build an Igloo by Douglas Wilkinson - NFB