I Belong to a League
- Author(s):
- Marybeth Webster
- Issue:
- On Epiphany (February 2025)
- Department:
- Inward Light
I belong to a league
whose members rarely meet
but who silently mobilize
to convey
sacred secret texts
from us to our offspring and theirs.
Brothers breathe the secrets.
Sisters sing these truths,
silently, secretly, quietly
to their young who do not hear until
they too meet the rules of entry
and can be drummed in, enfolded, held.
Following decades on decade,
century by century,
The League of Elders follows
the bends and turns of simply growing old.
Waiting is the game without knowing
that you're waiting.
Years pass. Transitions multiply.
The breath of life feeds wisdom
all unseen
Rising, sinking, spinning,
scrambled days, months, years pile on.
Pulse slows. Eyes dim. Ears close.
Tenth decade teaches all new rules,
new ways of comprehending
new punctuation in the sentence
we call Life.
Marybeth is a member of South Mountain Friends Meeting, in Ashland, Oregon.