Full Circle

a golden shovel

by Clare O'Brien

“The land is an ark, full of things waiting.” -  Wendell Berry, ‘A Wet Time’

Our vows of love and trust were made again two decades past, the
day we brought our children here and set our lives upon this land.
We grew our food, our house, made columbines and bluebells bloom. It is
a world we know. This place has sheltered, held and fed us, been an
escape from nightmare, drought and doubt. It has been nursery and ark.
It has swallowed our sweat, welcomed our dead. Its undulations are full
of those who walked with us, our loss and love, the vanished voices of
dog and cat and bird and pig. This place is strong. Knowing these things,
and holding fast, we return to ourselves, and find each other waiting.