Harrowing

Parker J. Palmer (who I just quoted on my FB page) wrote this poem as "a token of hope to anyone who may be enduring" a difficult season. Parker wrote this poem as he walked past a field as it was being harvested; the dominant metaphor of the poem is hopeful--although there is destruction in the plowing process, there is also room for healing and new life.


HARROWING

The plow has savaged this sweet field
Misshapen clods of earth kicked up
Rocks and twisted roots exposed to view
Last year's growth demolished by the blade

I have plowed my own life this way
Turned over a whole history
Looking for the roots of what went wrong
Until my face is ravaged, furrowed, and scarred.

Enough. The job is done.
Whatever's been uprooted, let it be
Seedbed for the growing that's to come.
I plowed to unearth last year's reasons--

[But now like the farmer I plow] to plant a greening season.