Though the spring is late and cold

“Though we invite, this healing comes
in answer to another voice than ours;
a strength not ours returns
out of death beginning in our work.

Though the spring is late and cold,
though uproar of greed
and malice shudders the sky,
pond, stream, and treetop raise
their ancient songs;
the robin molds her mud nest
with her breast; the air
is bright with breath
of bloom, wise loveliness that asks
nothing of the season but to be.”

- Wendell Berry

Healing still waits for the season of bloom in Congo. The uproar of malice and the greed of war has forced an endless winter. The over 6 million lives lost bear witness to this coldest of seasons. These lives awaken “the ancient songs.” Where is the courage to restore this land? To usher in a warm spring? To not stand for an endless winter? And still, the strength of the Congolese is “wise loveliness,” and is “bright with breath of bloom.” Perhaps here is where the spring hinges on the cusp of bloom, within the resolve and the beauty of Congo’s people.

I hope for Spring in Congo.

// Photograph taken in Minova, North Kivu, DRC, on a particularly beautifully cold Spring day.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Images, Words. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.