All Souls Day

{botanical photography by Heaven Scent}

Today is All Souls Day. It couldn't come at a more perfect time. A time when I need to remember those who were taken too young and too soon. I hope and trust they are in peace. To be a friend and a sister to those left behind.

I share a poem with you today by Mary Oliver.

When Roses Speak, I Pay Attention

"As long as we are able to be extravagant we will be hugely and damply extravagant. Then we will drop foil by foil to the ground. This is our unalterable task, and we do it joyfully."

And they went on.

"Listen, the heart-shackles are not, as you think,

death, illness, pain,

unrequited hope, not loneliness,

but lassitude, rue, vainglory, fear, anxiety,

selfishness."

Their fragrance all the while rising from their blind bodies, make me

spin with joy.