Beautiful writing calms my heart. And while it does not have to be poetry, I’d like to share two poems with you that have been soothing my soul for the last few years. The first is “Malheur Before Dawn,” written by William Stafford, and the second is “The Peace of Wild Things,” penned by Wendell Berry. I pray that they minister to your heart and, if nothing else, make you long for spring!

“Malheur Before Dawn” – William Stafford

An owl sound wandered along the road with me
I didn’t hear it–I breathed it into my ears.
Little ones at first, the stars retired, leaving
polished little circles on the sky for awhile.
Then the sun began to shout from below the horizon.
Throngs of birds campaigned, their music a tent of sound.
From across a pond, out of the mist,
one drake made a V and said its name.
Some vast animal of air began to rouse
from the reeds and lean outward.
Frogs discovered their national anthem again.
I didn’t know a ditch could hold so much joy
So magic a time it was that I was both brave and afraid.
Some day like this might save the world.

The Peace of Wild Things – Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.