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Fallowing soil is a method of sustainable land management used by farmers for centuries . . .

Arable land lies unsown,
unplowed, unvisited

except by noiseless
creatures going about

their unseen business.
Untouching, we are learning

the wisdom of not doing.
Fallow days lie open

to the roiling energies
of a changing earth,

a changing sky.  We are
learning to receive what

is given, to relinquish
what is taken.  Our travels

take us inward. Our prayers
require starker words. We find

ourselves wandering in unexplored 
places of the heart and return sobered,

content to let be what must be, 
light the lamps, stay home, breathe

deep and wait for what time may
reveal and wisdom restore.

Marilyn McEntyre

Marilyn McEntyre's teaching and writing link literature, language, spirituality, and healing. Her recent books include Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict and a new edition of Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies to be released in May. A book of her Lenten meditations, Where the Eye Alights, has recently been published by Eerdmans.