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Poem written and narrated by Christine Valters Paintner. Music by Jake Morgan.

lyrics

Things I Didn’t Know I Loved
(after Nazim Hikmet)

I never knew how much I loved
heavy rain on a Sunday morning
curled in bed with coffee
a Morse code tapping the windows
telling me I have no reason to leave.

I didn’t realize how much I adored
peonies until one May afternoon
I spent four hours photographing
the bouquet (you brought me
for no reason) on our dining table.

I never knew how much I cherished
the alchemy taking place in kitchens
until I mixed wheat and yeast together,
felt it sticky in my hands,
and from the oven emerged bread.

I didn’t know how much I loved
this sagging body of mine,
until one day the mirror showed
me not scars and marks, but a story
of what it means to endure.

I never knew how much I loved
the forest until I walked so far
and so long my arms were coated
with moss and my life became
a fairy tale written in the snow.

---Christine Valters Paintner

From the poetry collection The Wisdom of Wild Grace (Paraclete Press)

credits

from Sound and Stillness: An audio collection of poems by Christine Valters Paintner, released August 9, 2020

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Abbey of the Arts Galway, Ireland

Abbey of the Arts, in partnership with The Dancing Word, produces albums to inspire soulful connection to ancient monks and mystics, to Celtic practice and tradition, to the sacred feminine, and to Earth and her creatures.

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