As the mandates for masks have been lifted and we begin to make plans to be in the world again, we can reflect upon the last two years as being those that will forever be in our own history. Reading this poem by J.R.R. Tolkien helped to acknowledge the strength and resolve it has taken to stay the course:
“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair
I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see
For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green
I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know
But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@nate_dumlao
Love this.
Thank you Megan!