Fixer Upper Obsession Confession

I have to confess, Sundays at my house are awesome because I can watch episode after episode of Chip and Joanna Gaines on HGTV’s Fixer Upper. I have seen most of them already but I don’t care. I still love watching those two with their cute relationship and adorable kids. One Sunday recently I even caught my husband smiling at Chip’s lively antics. He actually sat and watched a few episodes alongside me on the sofa. When I found out the show was coming to an end it was a very dark day for me.

Why do we love this show so much? I suggest it might run deeper than we realize. It might even be deeply unconscious. (Or it could just be a fun show, but stay with me, will you?)

We know Chip and Joanna have strong Christian faith and values. They have a foundation that keeps their marriage strong and their family first even with the predictable trials that come with relatively fast fame. Our culture is crazy about celebrity, have you noticed? I wonder if secretly we are waiting for them to implode. Gosh, I hope not. And beneath that, are we all really longing for a sweet dream team like this to come in and rebuild our lives, bring out our highest potential, our inner beauty. Deeper still, are we all diamonds in the rough longing for our own personal “big reveal” but we just don't know how to get there?

My best friends Chip and Jo

Work with me here.  I’ll try to explain how Fixer Upper is much more than just a waste of a Sunday on the sofa. 

Fixer Upper always starts with choosing the home. Which home is in the best neighborhood? On the best piece of land? Which has the best price per square foot and for the amount of work needed? 

Similarly, I often wonder if our souls have a say in the bodies we incarnate into. Do you ever wonder that? Do we look for just the right circumstances to do the work of the advancement of the soul and then we jump in with fingers crossed hoping we are up to the job. Of course then we forget that that happened and then it is up to us to remember (or re-member). 

Life can be tough on this planet of density and our spirits and bodies can take a beating.  Gravity is real. After a certain amount of time we could all use a little fixer upper.

Is there a habit or an unhealthy choice you would like to rid yourself of? Is there a thought or a particular desire that is recurrent in your life? Is there a tightness in the body or pain that would benefit from stretching? What is holding you back from living the life you yearn to live? Is there a new focus you are considering? Are you satisfied with your social life, your friends and family relationships? How is your spiritual life? Are you praying for guidance, meditating, reflecting on your life within a higher context? Are you willing to take one or all of these on? If so, let’s keep watching…

Joanna's designs are light-filled and inspired.

Once the house is chosen, Joanna’s work begins. Joanna’s visions for dilapidated homes are awe inspiring to say the very least. She can walk into a room and quickly see where walls need to come down, and windows need to be added to let more light into the space. She determines where the family will be spending most of their time together (aka the heart) in their new home and makes those areas comfortable and special. She takes her inspiration to paper (or laptop using fancy design software) and presents it to the homeowners and together they fashion old home into new by laying out the plan so that all, the homeowners and their crew, can see the vision that initially came through Joanna.

We all love Chip Gaines’ fun-loving personality, but especially on demo day. He comes to the job with his mighty sledgehammer and that now famous devilish gleam in the eye and proudly announces “Its demo day!” Then the fun begins. He rips out walls with such passion and fervor. It makes me want to knock down a wall or two myself.

Where could you knock down a wall in your life? Could you make space for a window to let in more light? Are there old outdated ways of thinking that could be replaced with fresh new insights?

Demo day is hard work. It looks hard on Fixer Upper even though it is over in a matter of minutes. It’s probably more likely than not that Chip and his crew get banged up a bit while ripping the houses apart. But the payoff, the reveal of that brand spanking new gorgeous home for the family, is what it’s all about and they keep their goal in mind always.

When the walls are down, it’s time to rebuild the interior of the home. The foundation and framing are all important. If a wall is removed that houses a support beam, that must be taken into account and somehow accommodated for. New supports must be put into place, sometimes requiring original plans to be amended. Good plans are essential for staying on budget and on schedule, but flexibility is important as well.

Is your foundation strong? What are your core beliefs and values? Where do they come from? Good questions to ask yourself.  What is your framework like? Is there a strong well-built support system that surrounds you? We’re talking about your shelter through the storms of life after all. If you have little or no external support, where could you find it? Church, synagogue, community groups, friends and relatives?

Once the structure is sound and the house is built, the decorating begins. Joanna skillfully weaves into the design beauty, serenity and comfort with her southern style and creates a haven for each of the families she and Chip serve. And they are serving, make no mistake about that. Their full attention is given to creating the home that best fits the lifestyle and happiness of each family. They certainly make service look fun, creative and profitable.

Then comes the big reveal. I love how they first show what the home looked like before they excitedly ask the couple “Are you ready to see your Fixer Upper?” They remind them what the old house was like before. When they roll back the old house, the new one is revealed and the couple is overjoyed with the results. More often than not, there are tears. 

Why do we love this stuff so much? Hard-won rebirth and renewal can be emotional.

Through the tender love and care of Chip and Joanna, a house that was once a rundown eye-sore, becomes a gorgeous home for a family to live in for years to come. 

Our own spiritual growth is a lot like this, although nothing happens in an hour, commercial breaks included. Progress is slow and subtle and requires patience and tenacity. Much like construction, it is hard work. It requires a willingness to let go of what is no longer serving us. This can be really difficult. Unexpected things can happen during our reconstruction. We  get side-tracked, discouraged, or bored. It helps to have a good sense of humor like Chip and a visionary like Joanna on your team. We don’t want to go it alone if we can help it.

Where in your life could you use a little fixer upper? In your health? Limited ways of thinking? Your spiritual growth?

Your yoga, meditation and spiritual practices can help you uncover places that are ready to be refurbished. Life is about flow and we must keep moving in the direction God wants for us which is always for our highest good. Don’t be afraid to take a look around. Make a plan for yourself. Check your foundation for cracks and firm up your supports. Bust down some walls, add more light, clean up your mess, set your beautiful table like Jo always does and  then serve yourself some beauty with a heaping helping of gratitude. Then relax and sit a spell. The hard work is done for now. 

Bravo HGTV for finding and sharing this dear and delightful couple with us. I’m gonna miss Chip and Joanna and Fixer Upper. You?

Connie Bowman is an actress, author, host of the podcast Happy Healthy You! and yoga teacher who teaches at various places around Howard County, MD. For more about her visit www.conniebowman.com.

What We Can Live With

When we accept that we are not in control of the bigger picture and just take care of our end of the bargain, which is to live every day in alignment with our soul, now that's a big game changer.  ~~Back to Happy

This past weekend my family gathered to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. It was fun. After Dad sang the first “happy”, determining the key, I chimed in with my own “happy”, a third up, followed by my baby brother who completed the chord. We sang our family’s traditional five part harmony rendition, full-out and with gusto. Mom blew out the candle, making her 79th birthday wishes.

Next we played a little improv game in honor of the birthday girl and her very long and full life. No rules, we were to just add as we felt so moved to the phrase “Grammy is…” or “Mom is…” or “Sonia is…” My niece started out with “Grammy is back rubs and foot rubs by the fire.” Everyone added their sentiments. Some were sweet and sentimental, some funny, some referenced memories and experiences and as we got going, we got more specific and so many memories popped up for us of times spent with our wife, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law. We laughed a lot. We reminisced a lot. We were grateful for this woman who had cared so well and nurtured us all.

This trip down memory lane led to a conversation about what to do with all of the photos we have stored. Also, what to do about the photos we no longer print, those that are on our phones, in our computers, on Facebook and Instagram. Should we find ways to save them for posterity or is what we are doing enough?

I like, strike that - love to be organized, and I am not gonna lie, thinking about this caused the OCD in me to rise right on up to the surface. We have probably thousands of photos in our storage room crammed into see-through plastic bins. Each of my children has their own storage chest for their most important memories.There are also photo albums from childhood, from theatre work I have done, from our wedding and more. My husband seems to be able to live with this dis-order. Me, not so much.

When Meghan, our six year old daughter died in 1991 I remember wishing I had more photos of her. She was in kindergarten when she passed and the school had just taken the Spring photos. Not really liking her photo, I bought the economy pack with just a few pictures. Once we gave them to family, there were only a couple left for us. Looking back, I regret having been cheap. I wish I had bought the most expensive package with magnets, mugs and whatever else was available with her picture. Bad decision on my part but one I had to live with. Consequently, from that point on I bought the fattest, most expensive packages of school portraits and I save every photo with a reverence that borders on hoarding. I just can’t bring myself to let any of them go.

So when my sister posed this question yesterday I got to thinking about it. I went downstairs to the storage room and reached for a random pile of photos, took them upstairs to my bedroom and laid them out on the carpet. It was quiet and I was alone so I spoke aloud a prayer over the photos. I closed my eyes and got still for a few moments. When I opened my eyes, the piles of photos lay there waiting.

I began to organize them. I spread them out and looked at each one. There were black and white photos taken by my grandfather Bo, an accomplished photographer who was never without a camera.There were baby photos, elementary school photos, wedding photos, photos of me with friends from high school and college, photos of my children; all three of them.

As I attempted to create my own version of order with the photos a sudden revelation came to me. I was dividing and organizing the photos into before Meghan’s death, my time with my two girls and, after Meghan’s death, my time with Caroline and Bobby, our son who was born not long after. The arrangement of the photos clearly delineated these periods of my life. They also revealed to me that there was still healing left to be done. My photo organizing was now becoming a sacred task. 

Because I want to be whole and fully human on this Earth for the rest of the time I am here, I knew I needed to spend some time reflecting on my life and grieving process. I write about such a reflection process in my journal Gratitude, Grace and God Things available on Amazon. It’s a method of coming to new understandings of circumstances and how God is always working in our lives, even when we might not feel a trace of holy presence. As I worked my way through a reflection, asking for guidance and illumination, I looked down at the photos again.

Soon I was rearranging the photos as tears welled in my eyes. I saw the whole of my life to this point right there on my bedroom carpet. I was a happy baby, reclining back on a blanket, a bottle in my mouth, an awkward lanky frizzy haired teenager. I saw myself as a college student, all full of confidence and excitement for what was yet to come. I was a bride and a daughter of two awesome parents. And then I was a Mom of one, Meghan, who gave me that first real inkling of what loving another with a whole heart was about. Then came Caroline and I was a Mom of two, full heart for sure and so grateful for her health and spunky spirit. There was a short period when Caroline was an only child. Funny, I didn’t grab any photos of that time, that sad sad period. I do have them - somewhere in one of those plastic bins. Then Bobby was born and the family changed again. As I looked at the photos that reflected the new phase, I could feel the joy that overlapped the grief.

I began mixing the photos and disorganizing them. I could see that this life, this complicated life, is like one big photo collage encompassing joy, pain, fear, boredom, despair and so on, to varying degrees throughout our time here. Smiling faces tell lies, as the song goes.

I learned from my photo organizing that life is disorganized. We might have pictures scattered about and stored away here, there, heck maybe everywhere. It’s OK. Life’s not always neat and tidy. 

As I sat on the floor with my photo collage in front of me, In my mind I heard clearly the words “…Lo I am with you always.” That I can live with.

Connie Bowman is an actress, author of the book Back to Happy and host of the podcast Happy Healthy You! Join us on our Facebook page for podcasts, more info about living a whole life in mind body and spirit and even special offers like podcast sponsor Blue Planet Eyewear offering 20% off purchases with Code: Connie20. Click here for their site.

Fresh Start for A New Year

Happy Healthy New Year my friends! Have you made your resolutions and set your goals for this new year? We all know how that goes. We have good intentions but often no real plan. I read someone said “a goal without a plan is just a wish”. I have made a lot of wishes. Most of them never really panned out. 

I've learned a few things from living my life and from the many people I have interviewed on the Happy Healthy You! podcast. Here’s the thing about goals; goals are like trees. Stay with me here.

In my backyard the county has planted a tree farm as part of a restoration project. From our back deck we see rows of plastic tube things sticking up out of the ground. After a couple of years some of them still have live trees growing inside but many of them just didn't make it. I guess the logic was to plant as many as possible and see what happens. Many of the trees never took root. Some were surely eaten by deer. Those that are still growing must have had an advantage and it wasn't just the protective plastic tubes that the county provided. Those growing baby trees are my inspiration for my New Year.

To flourish and grow trees (and us with our best laid plans) need the advantage of intentional planning. They (we) need balance. They (we) need nourishment, the opportunity to grow roots and something to reach for. I am sorry for those trees that didn’t make it, but maybe they have something to teach us. 

Those trees were planted with the best of intentions. But left to chance only some will survive. I guess if we throw enough of our resolutions out there maybe a few will take root. But wouldn't it be great to be a little more conscious and intentional about our resolutions in 2018?

Most of us, myself included, have areas we wish to improve in body, mind and spirit. This balance has been key to my well-being and happiness and also healing from grief and loss as I have written about in my book Back to Happy. For our seeds to take root and grow, they need conscious intention and attention.

Here are some of my best thoughts for a fresh start as we begin this new year for our bodies, our minds and our spirits. I offer them up to you with love and gratitude and my best “wishes” for your happiest, healthiest year ever.

Body

Want to get in shape this year? Start with a check up. Know your numbers; blood pressure, cholesterol. etc.

Go to your local track and time fifteen minutes of running or walking. Get down in a low plank position (elbows under your shoulders, spine and legs in a straight line, ankles bent at 90 degrees, toes on the floor) and see how long you can hold it. How many push-ups can you do in a minute? How many crunches can you do in a minute?

Sit on the floor. Can you move to a standing position without using your hands?

Now you have your starting point. Everyday this year you know what you have to do. Go out and do a little bit better. Chart your progress. 

Mind

Sit tall, eyes open or closed and follow your breath.

Now we move to our meditation practice. How long can you sit in the morning and/or evening to meditate? Try it today. See how long you can sit with your spine erect, your eyes closed or just slightly open, and follow your breath as it enters and exits your body. Meditation is simple. Meditation is hard! As soon as you notice a thought, come back to your breath. Use a timer this first day and chart your progress. There is only one rule, no judgment! Judgment defeats the whole dang purpose of meditation. The reason I love yoga is it prepares me to sit in meditation for longer periods without thinking about my grocery list or my cramped legs. Maybe try a yoga class this year. You've got a starting point. Meet yourself where you are. You can have a goal of twenty minutes in the morning and evening if that works for you. 

Yoga is everywhere nowadays. Find a class you love.

Spirit

Now for the best part, our spiritual life - our connection to the divine. This is what gives meaning to our existence and helps us live happier, more emotionally stable, beautiful and love-filled lives. Spirituality is harder to measure but there are tools given to us through the ages that work. We should consider them.

Prayer: Find a favorite prayer and pray it everyday upon getting out of bed. I like The Lord’s Prayer, given to us by Jesus. It’s really the perfect prayer because it has everything that we need - devotion, supplication, confession. But you can choose another that works for you like The Serenity Prayer or The Prayer of St. Francis. The important thing is to acknowledge and make that connection to a higher power.

Forgiveness: Who do I need to forgive today? Can I let go of resentments and past hurts? Can you face this person and personally forgive them? If not, can you write a letter or make a phone call. If not, can you write the letter and burn it, symbolizing the end of the resentment. If it is difficult, ask for help from your higher power, a therapist, counselor, or spiritual advisor or a trusted friend.

Gratitude: What am I thankful for this day, this moment? Write it down. Sit with this feeling of gratitude and let it permeate your being. Gratitude is powerful stuff.

Beauty: Where can I bring more beauty into my life?

I love flowers. I like to see fresh flowers in every room. Beauty feeds the soul and enlivens the spirit. Get up early and watch the sun rise. I dare you to not be in awe. See a play, read good poetry, listen - really listen to a beautiful piece of music, admire art or even better, create your own!

Love: Love is everything. Take a moment to reflect on where and how well you give love and where and how well you are able to receive it. If one is out of whack, make it your goal to bring that back into balance. It can be as simple as letting your spouse finish the dishes while you read a good book or take a long hot bath. How about volunteering? If you’re craving companionship, there are a lot of options out there but you have to take action. There are animals to rescue, church communities to join, dating sites. Your prayer and meditation will help clear that connection to your soul and will guide you to the right place to fill your love tank.

Retreat: Remember, we cannot offer our gifts and our love to others if our well is empty. it’s important to stay replenished. Sometimes that means pausing to take time to reconnect to God and ourselves. You can go away to a seminary, an ashram, a retreat center, or stay in your own home by creating a sacred space for yourself to be quiet, to rest and reflect. It is in the stillness that we are restored. Turn off your technology. Read sacred literature.

Create regular pockets of peace for yourself and you will be happier and healthier for it.

I haven't mentioned nutrition in this blog but my feeling is that with attention to balance in mind, body and spirit, nutrition naturally falls into place. We eat what our body needs and are guided to healthier choices. Bad habits fall away with attention to our fitness, our peace of mind and our spirituality. Of course, if you find yourself needing help to quit any habits, bravo to you! Go for it! You are my favorite tree of all.

I also did not mention organization, time management, career aspirations or financial goals in this blog about balance. Again I suggest to you, when we get our minds, bodies and spirits in order, the rest falls neatly and almost miraculously into place. You'll see.

Well, that’s my two cents for starting off the New Year with a fresh start. Balance in body, mind and spirit is a pretty sweet resolution. Just beware of the side effects: joy, health, contentment, peace. 

Happy Healthy New Year!

XO,

Connie

Connie Bowman is an actress, author of the book Back to Happy and host of the podcast Happy Healthy You! Join us on our Facebook page for podcasts, more info about living a whole life in mind body and spirit and even special offers like podcast sponsor Blue Planet Eyewear offering 20% off purchases with Code: Connie20. Click here for their site.

For When the Nights are Longest

On this longest night of the year we are reminded that our days are short on this Earth. We are invited to reflect on the seasons past and find stillness in this darkest time. 

Does that scare you just a little? It does me. 

I am a lover of the light. I enjoy the sunshine, happy people, belly laughs, karaoke, musical theatre... I named my podcast Happy Healthy You! and wrote a book entitled Back to Happy for goodness' sake!

Being with darkness and grief is not a pleasant thing for me. Or for any of us I suspect.

Yesterday I found out that a dear friend from my school days had passed from this world. He was a sweet, loving generous soul who was a friend to everyone he met. His life was way too short.

How do we reconcile in our hearts and minds sad events like the passing of a dear friend during this “hap-happiest time of the year”? I found myself yesterday praying one minute and then bustling around preparing for our family holiday celebration the next. It was a strange, surreal day. 

This time last year another friend passed too soon and suddenly. She was a yoga friend and a member of the DC acting community. We were stunned and shocked by her passing, as was her family.

This week on the Happy Healthy You! podcast I am joined by my sweet friend and fellow yogi Ashley Sky Litecky of Skyhouse Yoga (www.skyhouseyoga.com) to honor the life of Tricia McCauley and try to make sense of tragedy, grief and loss. She also shared a beautiful yoga practice to help move some of our grief through the emotional and physical bodies. She reminded me and I share it with you that community is vitally important during times of grief and loss. I cannot agree more. I am grateful for my family, my friends, and for you, wherever you are reading this. Thank you for being my community.

I want to share this poem by Jan Richardson that I think so so beautiful and appropriate:

Blessing for the Longest Night

All throughout these months

as the shadows

have lengthened,

this blessing has been

gathering itself,

making ready,

preparing for

this night.

It has practiced

walking in the dark,

traveling with

its eyes closed,

feeling its way

by memory

by touch

by the pull of the moon

even as it wanes.

So believe me

when I tell you

this blessing will

reach you

even if you

have not light enough

to read it;

it will find you

even though you cannot

see it coming.

You will know

the moment of its

arriving

by your release

of the breath

you have held

so long;

a loosening

of the clenching

in your hands,

of the clutch

around your heart;

a thinning

of the darkness

that had drawn itself

around you.

This blessing

does not mean

to take the night away

but it knows

its hidden roads,

knows the resting spots

along the path,

knows what it means

to travel

in the company

of a friend.

So when

this blessing comes,

take its hand.

Get up.

Set out on the road

you cannot see.

This is the night

when you can trust

that any direction

you go,

you will be walking

toward the dawn.

– Jan Richardson

Have a blessed holiday. May you keep the faith in the darkest hours, always hope in the light, and enjoy precious moments with loved ones as you celebrate in the days to come.

XO,

Connie

Wild Geese

My husband teases me that I say yoga is great for everything. Maybe it's not good for everything, but yoga can prepare us to move through life’s joys and sorrows with ease and grace and to unify our minds, our bodies and our spirits so that we can live happier, healthier lives. 

In many ways joy can be as challenging to contain as grief. The intensity of joy floods the nervous system with exhilarating feel good hormones. Joy can be thrilling, exciting and stimulating. Grief, likewise creates a similarly intense response. Both emotions affect us profoundly; physically, emotionally and spiritually. 

Moving through the asanas (poses), breathing practices, and meditation of a full yoga practice allows us to move stagnant energy from the body and helps us to remember and reunite with our true natures. Our mats can be places to return to again and again to clear out the cobwebs and relieve stored tension in the body.

This week I am recovering from wedding joy. (Yes, recovering from intense joy is a thing!) There is also the letdown after all the planning and the full weekend of festivities and celebrations. It was so much fun, extremely emotional and touching to see family and friends gathered to celebrate the happy couple. It was also exhausting.

I need yoga this week. I feel tired but am also flying high like the wild geese I keep seeing these past few days. There was so much love for this couple, my daughter and her now husband, our sweet new son-in-law. He could barely contain himself when those church doors opened to reveal his bride. Tears flowed from both of them even before her father and I walked her down the aisle. It was stunningly beautiful, sweet and sacred.

Have you noticed all of the wild geese flying overhead lately? I am in love with the geese. A few years back I recorded this, Mary Oliver’s Snow Geese, a poem about joy and it’s fleeting nature. I love this poem because it captures beautifully how transitory this emotion joy really is. Joy often seems like it's gone soon after it arrives. If only sorrow was as short-lived!

For ancient Celtic people wild geese symbolized God. Much like God, geese can be disruptive, surprising and sometimes unexpected, but also quite awesome and beautiful just the same. Like the geese, God sees from a higher vantage point and moves with perfect precision.

Consider the expression “wild goose chase”, meaning to chase after something that is hard to catch. Sounds a lot to me like our souls, our true selves, or God. There are times when God does seem elusive. This can be especially true in times of stress or sorrow. We may look and look but cannot find a trace of God in our lives. When this happens, I need to find something like those miraculous geese to tide me over until I can reconnect with what has been there all along. Yoga always helps. So does prayer, sacred writings, meditation, time with a dear friend, a good long nap…

Why do they fly in a V? I looked it up. It conserves their energy. Each bird flies slightly above the bird in front, resulting in a reduction of wind resistance. The birds take turns being in the front, falling back when they get tired. In this way, the geese can fly for a long time before they need to stop to rest. They know when to fly, how to fly and where to fly. How do they know all of this? Their formations are precise. The sound of the wings flapping as they fly can be deafening if you are close. And their loud bossy honk, their communication with one another, is fascinating to observe as they encourage the slow, slacker geese to fly faster. They are individuals, yet their unity allows them to move through the sky with great power and mighty impressive precision.

A pair of geese will get together to raise a family and, for the most part, will stay together the rest of their lives (up to 25 years), raising new families each year. Geese have very strong affections for others in their group (known as a gaggle). If one bird in the gaggle gets sick, wounded, or shot, a couple of others may drop out of formation and follow the ailing goose down to help and protect him or her. They try to stay with the disabled goose until it dies or is able to fly again, then they catch up with the group or launch out with another formation. 

Geese are social animals who suffer when confined in individual cages. Confinement such as this also can lead to lesions of the sternum and bone fractures, as well as foot injuries from the cage floors. 

My prayer for us is that we can take a lesson from the wild geese and learn to fly together, to take care of one another, to share  leadership and to honk loudly when someone needs a little encouragement to do better. And for those of us lucky enough to find a partner to travel this journey with, may we honor that relationship with deep reverence, remembering to look deeply for the divine spark in the other as well as ourselves.

Joy and sorrow move through the emotional and physical body throughout our lifetime. As I wrote in my book Back to Happy we cannot hold on to joy anymore than the geese can stay forever in the air. They must find fields on which to land. Joy is a gift to be cherished but not clung to. 

Sorrow, although it does pass, can stay with and affect the body in a negative way if we allow it. We can, however, choose otherwise.

Next up on the Happy Healthy You! podcast  we talk about the issues that can land in our tissues after trauma and how to move through the tough times. 

Like the geese, we must keep moving though the seasons of our lives. Practices like yoga can help. To practice with me, visit my yoga page at www.conniebowman.com

Namaste,

Connie

                                          SOMETHING TOLD THE WILD GEESE

                                                            By Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese

It was time to go,

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered, "snow."

Leaves were green and stirring,

Berries, luster-glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

Something cautioned, "frost."

All the sagging orchards

Steamed with amber spice,

But each wild breast stiffened

At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese

It was time to fly,

Summer sun was on their wings,

Winter in their cry.