i am going to live.....

 Written to a prompt by Abbey of the Arts with Hirsch' poem as inspiration.

I Am Going to Start Living Like a Mystic

Today I am pulling on a green wool sweater
and walking across the park in a dusky snowfall.

The trees stand like twenty-seven prophets in a field,
each a station in a pilgrimage—silent, pondering.

Blue flakes of light falling across their bodies
are the ciphers of a secret, an occultation.

I will examine their leaves as pages in a text
and consider the bookish pigeons, students of winter.

I will kneel on the track of a vanquished squirrel
and stare into a blank pond for the figure of Sophia.

I shall begin scouring the sky for signs
as if my whole future were constellated upon it.

I will walk home alone with the deep alone,
a disciple of shadows, in praise of the mysteries.

---by Edward Hirsch

I, most certainly, was not as sensory driven as Hirsch,  but this is what came forth for me:

i am going to live like a monk.

but what does that mean?

can i live like a monk and 

continue my social-pleasing life?

do i give up my classes online?

do i give up my peer groups of sharing?

do i surround myself with a 

constant cloak of quietness?

i am going to live like a mystic.

but what does that mean?

can i live like a mystic, meditate 

as i wash dishes

water plants

read responses to posts?

do i recluse myself?

do i pray by setting a timer?

how to quiet my distracted heart?

i am going to live like an artist.

oh, i know what that means.

i weave. i write. 

I can be an artist weaving

my threads into a God-inspired palette. 

this excites me, no questions arise.

I can be an artist writing

my words into a God-inspired poem.

what is left but life’s surprises!

what is left but empty warps!

what is left but blank pages! 

we wait, 

my artist and i for …….

His acclimations

His affirmations

His comforts

His directions

aware! i already have

His love.    amen!                                                                         joanconnor01/24/2026