From Open Mind - by Diane Mariechild



Alan and Elizabeth brought back my well-thumbed

copy of Open Mind I had left with them a year ago,

after reading a piece at Aunt Syd's *wake* -



I opened it to this page:



DEATH

December 29



Why did you vanish

into the empty sky?

Even the fragile snow,

when it falls,

falls in this world.





Izumi Shikibu


Izumi's poem portrays the sorrow of a

mother mourning the death of her daughter.

The pain is palpable. There is no disguise.

There is no attempt to cover the pain

with intellectualization. We can watch to

see where the snow lands as it falls. We

can't see what happens after death. Any thoughts

we have about what might happen are just that,

thoughts. It is only our ability to directly

experience this world, the sorrow and the joy,

that brings us to a space between intellect

and emotion, beyond hope and sorrow.