Holding

Today my children played naked, 

free in a field of clover. 

The sky was blue with puffy white clouds. 

The cat twined between my boots as I wrestled fencing and watched from afar. 

There were handfuls of green thrown in the air.

Hats and blankets made, 

piles of verdant, soft scented sweet leaves. 

There looked to be a narrative and also a conversation, 

words spoken and exchanged, 

that I could not hear. 

There was a hug,

sister’s arms wrapped around little brother,

who paused and allowed, before taking a few steps away

and sitting down, 

going back to his own inner world. 

“This is how it goes”, I think. 

Every day they need me less

and go a little further out onto their own. 

It is both a relief and a heartache.

And, what grace to know they have each other

to witness and share and hold,

to be together and alone within the unique and exquisite energy of family

amidst this crazy world. 

May they and we have this,

no matter who or where:

a feeling of safety, of belonging, 

even if only always 

with the earth 

and the sky.