From star to star, from sun and spring and leaf,
And almost audible flowers whose sound is silence,
And in the common meadows, springs the seed of life.
Now the lilies open, and the rose
Released by summer from the harmless graves
That, centuries deep, are in the air we breathe,
And in our earth, and in our daily bread.
External and innate dimensions hold
The living forms, but not the force of life;
For that interior and holy tree
That in the heart of hearts outlives the world
Spreads earthly shade into eternity.
— Kathleen Raine ‘Seed’
When I first became chronically ill, in late 1995, it was a huge period of adjustment. My life rapidly changed from the typical pattern of working and socialising of a 20-something year old person and turned into a seemingly endless period of convalescence punctuated by medical appointments and treatments.
However, during the early period of transitioning from the life of a healthy person to the life of a sick one there is, alongside the fear and anxiety, a focus on adjusting and learning, with so much new information to take on. There tends to be a lot of medical interest and input at those early stages and care and compassion from friends and family.
Living With Narwhals 