Today, I drove The Great River Road to deliver my handcrafted jewelry to an art gallery/gift shop in McGregor, Iowa. It is my 6th season there. Usually, I also volunteer there several times during the tourist season and this activity garners me more as a consignee. This year, I decided to not volunteer due to a new job and a more limited schedule for that type of activity. We will see how it goes. The new gallery manager is super organized and efficient. I had my 85 pieces of jewelry checked in, stickered with a price tag, and inventoried in the space of 30 minutes.
As per usual, my mind rambled on this trip. It can be beautiful – very beautiful, in fact. But, today, I saw the damage of recent flooding. Eroded hillsides with exposed tree roots and fresh swathes of mud showing themselves regularly as I looked out my car windows. The Mississippi River, which can be sparkling, blue, and inviting, today looked cold, harsh, and gray. I noted several white pelicans resting or flying as they migrate through our area. A Great Blue Heron was seen flying over the flooded sloughs. My third sighting this week of one of my favorite birds. And, tiny ducklings, as well as baby loons, were noted floating on the surface the calmer inland waters that had formed new rivers in the last few weeks during our winter thaw.
The color of the sky and water, a muddled gray, matched my mood today. Thinking about my week, it seems like I’ve been on a roller coaster ride that has provided the height of thrills but also bottoming out borne of frustrations and possible reconsiderations. A free verse poem formed in my mind.
Since Sunday
Since Sunday, I have laughed with great joy
and, I have cried, with similar anguish.
I have felt confident,
only to have that confidence crushed.
I have been weak and embarrassed, but
also strong and brash.
Longing for understanding, I explain
but find I do not I convince.
Sunday, I stood with joyful pride.
Monday, I sobbed.
Tuesday brought recovery, excitement, and peace.
Wednesday was an oxymoron of mutual understanding and admiration,
followed by some dismissal, and questioning stares.
Thursday, today, brought another trip down
The Great River Road
and a grayness that
revealed all my emotions Since Sunday.
Perhaps, it is the grayness of Maundy Thursday or the burning of Notre Dame
that has colored my day.
Perhaps, it is more personal than that.
Perhaps, it is the erosion and flood waters that flanked my path.
Perhaps, it is more personal than that.
All I know is that I have seen Gray Since Sunday.
The Apples in My Orchard 
I don’t like that you feel gray, but I like the poem.
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Thanks, Peg! I felt better as soon as I wrote it. Isn’t that the power of writing?! Have a Blessed Easter! Love you!
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Happy Easter to you all, too!
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And yes, writing is powerful. Have you read The Artist’s Way?
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I have not….I am always looking for a good book! Thanks!
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It’s really weird you mention that book – between Saturday and today, I have seen it referenced twice, not counting yours. I will have to check it out. But, I read your blog from yesterday (I believe) and while I tried always writing at the same time of day, it works better for me to do it variably as I have a block of time in each day.
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Ah, this is the power of writing. Thank you for your words. A journey through a week is a wise way to take the temperature of one soul. I hope that your grays are tempered by brighter hues in the days ahead. Happy Poetry Friday…. xx
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My days have become sunnier already! This is normal, I feel, in life! Thanks for your kind words!
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I am glad that writing this poem took the grey away. I think sometimes the world outside us wriggles itself inside us. Maybe just acknowledging it helps to shake it out.
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Absolutely! I felt better immediately after writing it!
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Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. I have been going through a tumultuous time in my life as well recently, and your words just resonated with me – laughing and crying with equal abandon, confident and terrified all that the same time. I also find that sometimes putting my jumbled thoughts and feelings into words can be the greatest catharsis.
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I am so grateful that you could relate. I hope the sun shines on you as you journey through the roller coaster of life! Take Care!
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Thank you for the honesty of your poem. I can relate (maybe not all in one week or all in this week, but those are all my feels, too!) May brighter colors return to your days this week!
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Thank you! My skies turned sunny both literally and figuratively. I look forward to more sun this week!
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I hope you feel cleansed after writing. Sometimes a reflection is an antidote to low feelings, showing the light that does shine out along with the gray. Enjoy your Easter celebration.
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Thank you! I do feel the catharsis of writing!
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It’s been that kind of week, all right! Thanks for writing about it and sharing it with us! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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Hi Ruth! Thanks for the comment! I’ll have to come and check out your blog!
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This is a beautiful, haunting poem. I hope your personal grey skies turn sunny and that we can all find hope in these times.
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Thanks so much! Yes, my skies are sunny now. I am glad you could relate, however!
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