Good morning…
Yesterday a friend shared a poem entitled Utopia. Together, let’s read slowly and ponder the meaning of this story.
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“Utopia” by Louise Glück
When the train stops, the woman said, you must get on it. But how will I
know, the child asked, it is the right train? It will be the right train, said the
woman, because it is the right time. A train approached the station; clouds
of grayish smoke streamed from the chimney. How terrified I am, the child
thinks, clutching the yellow tulips she will give to her grandmother. Her hair
has been tightly braided to withstand the journey. Then, without a word,
she gets on the train, from which a strange sound comes, not in a language
like the one she speaks, something more like a moan or a cry.
******
A moan. A cry. A strange foreign language. To me, this sounds like natural childbirth. A moan. A cry. A strange foreign language.
“What is being birthed in this poem?” I wonder to myself.
This child’s independence. Her “terrified” turned brave. An intergenerational bond fed with yellow tulips. Pushing past the anxiety, the uncertainty, the fear of the unknown, a new level of inner strength is born.
Now I wonder, “Why is this poem titled Utopia?”
I google the word and Vocabulary.com says: “Utopia is a perfect paradise that doesn’t exist, but which we all dream of anyway. In the dead of winter, we might imagine a utopia full of palm trees, warm breezes, and sun-soaked beaches.”
Memory can soften things, creating its own utopia, offering a keen sense of perfect place at a perfect time. The writer of this poem recalls one terrifying moment. As a little girl, she took one large step up, leaving all she knew, unlocking the God-given courage living dormant inside each of us.
Be strong and brave, and don’t tremble in fear… because the Eternal your God is going with you. He’ll never fail you or abandon you! (Deuteronomy 31:6, VOICE).
What is the most terrifying step you have ever taken?
In what ways did you sense, God is with me?
…Sue…
