Monet Refuses The Operation
by Lisel Mueller
[Listen to Audio!]
 Doctor, you say there are no haloes
around the streetlights in Paris
and what I see is an aberration
caused by old age, an affliction.
I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,
to soften and blur and finally banish
the edges you regret I don’t see,
to learn that the line I called the horizon
does not exist and sky and water,
so long apart, are the same state of being.
Fifty-four years before I could see
Rouen cathedral is built
of parallel shafts of sun,
and now you want to restore
my youthful errors: fixed
notions of top and bottom,
the illusion of three-dimensional space,
wisteria separate
from the bridge it covers.
What can I say to convince you
the Houses of Parliament dissolves
night after night to become
the fluid dream of the Thames?
I will not return to a universe
of objects that don’t know each other,
as if islands were not the lost children
of one great continent. The world
is flux, and light becomes what it touches,
becomes water, lilies on water,
above and below water,
becomes lilac and mauve and yellow
and white and cerulean lamps,
small fists passing sunlight
so quickly to one another
that it would take long, streaming hair
inside my brush to catch it.
To paint the speed of light!
Our weighted shapes, these verticals,
burn to mix with air
and change our bones, skin, clothes
to gases. Doctor,
if only you could see
how heaven pulls earth into its arms
and how infinitely the heart expands
to claim this world, blue vapor without end.
About the Author: by poet Lisel Mueller. The painter Claude Monet had cataracts and when his doctor wanted to perform surgery, Monet refused. He wanted to paint light. He loved seeing the blurred edges of everything as evidence of our interconnection.
Latest Community Insights  |
Monet Refuses The Operation
What comes up for you when you lean into the connection between how we see and how we make meaning? Can you share a personal story of a time your vision revealed the interconnectedness of life? What helps you develop a vision that can dissolve distinctions? |
| Jagdish P Dave wrote: The world is in the eye of the beholder. So true! There are two worlds-the outer world and the inner world. When I see the outer world with my outer physical eyes, I see parts of the world distinct fr… |
| David Doane wrote: Such a beautiful writing by Lisel Mueller. Anais Nin said "We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are." I agree with Nin. What I see through my eyes comes through what rema… |
| Share/Read Your Reflections |
|
Awakin Circles:
Many years ago, a couple friends got together to sit in silence for an hour, and share personal aha-moments. That birthed this newsletter, and rippled out as Awakin Circles in 80+ living rooms around the globe. To join in Santa Clara this week, RSVP online.
Some Good News
Video of the Week
Kindness Stories
Global call with Krish Raval!
 Join us for a conference call this Saturday, with a global group of ServiceSpace friends and our insightful guest speaker. Join the Forest Call >>
About
Back in 1997, one person started sending this simple “meditation reminder” to a few friends. Soon after, “Wednesdays” started, ServiceSpace blossomed, and the humble experiments of service took a life of its own. If you’d like to start an Awakin gathering in your area, we’d be happy to help you get started.
|
Sangha of Auspicious Companions 