OF THE EBB AND FLOW by Ruth Calder Murphy

The Ebb and the Flow…

This is something that’s an ongoing lesson for me – learning to embrace the ebb and flow of things; of my emotions, my muse, my energy levels, my voice.

My teachers are the seasons, the Moon and her cycles, the waves that break on the shore, the pull of the tide.

During the last super moon, I stood on the grass in our back garden, in the silver-brushed dark, and did some  yoga stretching and balancing, up and down and in and out. The moon was glorious, full and bright and night was holding sway, but just around the corner, was the promise of a new day.

Sometimes, I feel a deep, reverberating connection with all of this – with the Ebb and Flow of all things – and I feel that I’m touching on something bigger, deeper and more wonderful than the sum of all its parts…

Sometimes, I don’t feel it at all, but that’s part of what I’m learning: The Ebb, as much as the Flow, is part of the connection and, even when I don’t feel it, it’s no less there.

Of the Ebb and Flow

Here I stand,

Darkness kissing my skin chilly

- Me -

balanced and stretched like a tree,

Me, beneath the fulness of the Summer’s brightest moon.

Here I bow and reach and shrink and grow,

embracing cycles and circles,

the ebb and flow of

my soul, woven

in and through the choreography of seasons,

the turning of the tides,

the sleeping of my Muse

and the returning of my voice

from spiraling stars,

the mists of Time,

the infinite skies

and dim and distant mountainsides…

Here, I stand,

Night like a blanket

- like a shroud,

like the tomb,

beating with the promise

of the full-term womb -

moon-drenched silent

in the pregnant pause

before Dawn.

Here I stand,

moon-washed and waiting

- once again -
to be born.

Ruth Calder Murphy is a writer, artist, music teacher, wife and mother living in London, UK. Her life is wonderfully full of creativity and low-level chaos. She is the author of two published novels, “The Scream" and "The Everlasting Monday", several books of poetry and one or two as-yet unpublished novels. She is passionate about celebrating the uniqueness of people, questioning the unquestionable and discovering new perspectives on old wonders. She is learning to ride the waves that come along—peaks and troughs—and is waking up to just how wonderful life really is. You can visit Ruth and view more of her art on her website, or on her writer's page on Facebook. Her books are available on Amazon, here.

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