Three Objects Spoke to Me

The bird was flying in the darkened night. All around was silence, silence. The young girl who did not know she was an angel, held a garland across her chest - a heart, a crescent moon, a star. She was walking alone on a path. She did not know her destination.

She raised up her eyes to see the moon. To her astonishment, there was no moon to be seen. In its place a beautiful red rose blooming in the sky! And the air was filled with such fragrance! And petal after petal floated in the air, gently caressing her. The flower moon kept opening and opening. The girl began to cry. She had never felt such beauty. 

Certainly she had seen beauty before. But feel it? Feel herself become part of the beauty seen? No. That was a rarity. It took her breath away.

She wondered, "if I exhale will it all vanish? I don't want the flower moon to go away." 

She closed her eyes. "Let this be the only thing I see. My only memory. If I open my eyes again will it still be there?" 

"Should I tell someone?" she asked herself. "What if they disagree or call me foolish or doubt my sanity? What if they claim the vision for their own? Will I be left with nothing?" 

She was alone but for the darkened sky, the blooming iridescent rose moon, the petals falling, the garland's heart, crescent, and star, and the path that was yet to be.

"Maybe I shouldn't move." 

"Maybe I should stay still and silent."

"If this is magic and has meaning - what is it? Do I deserve it?"

"If there is no magic and no meaning - what then?"

The girl sighed. She looked up again.

Flower moon.
Falling petals.
Bird flying.
Darkened sky.

No knowing what to do next, she fell asleep. Was she lying down or standing up? She never could remember. 

She slept and slept. An eternity of flower moons and flower petals. Finally she had the dream she was seeking. The dream she would carry inside her - awake - for all the rest of her days. 

The flower moon was the rose of her heart. 
The petals the love she shared.
The bird flying her spirt's call. 
The silence the worship in her soul. 
The garland her protection from not knowing.

That was so long ago and this is the first time I am telling her story. 

Diane Kaufman, MD
Words for Healing workshop
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital
​Portland, Oregon  
April 28, 2018