SWIMMING IN AMAZEMENT

"The Lesson" by Natalie d'Arbeloff (see sidebar for link) Her description of this work:

It is not a dream
A giant blue bird appears
And follows Augustine everywhere.

The giant bird sits in the bathtub with Augustine.She says:
What is the meaning of this?
The bird answers:
You are forgetting to be amazed.
The figures are reflected in the mirror.

A tiny crystal ball sits on a ledge behind a gold frame. Looking through the frame you can read the message:
Don't forget.

CATEGORY: Religious and Poetic Ecstasy

Because it's summer, and the sky is particularly brilliant today, we need to talk about swimming. And we need to talk about amazement. To that end, I bring you Polish poet, Adam Zagajewski, one of the voices I turn to when I need to soar.

ON SWIMMING

The rivers of this country are sweet
as a troubadour's song,
the heavy sun wander westward
on yellow circus wagons.
Little village churches
hold a fabric of silence so fine
and old that even a breath
could tear it.
I love to swim in the sea, which keeps
talking to itself
in the monotone of a vagabond
who no longer recalls
exactly how long he's been on the road.
Swimming is like prayer:
palms join and part,
join and part,
almost without end.

Adam Zagajewski