Grace and Grit

I recently finished reading Ken Wilber's "Grace and Grit", the story of his late wife Treya Killam Wilber and of their love. Treya was diagnosed with cancer 10 days after their wedding and this book is a very sincere account of their ordeal for the next 5 year as both go through a spiritual journey together. a very c0mpassionate telling of living and dying. Wilber uses Treya's journal entries in the book, allowing her to speak her genuine words of wisdom and compassion...the book touched me deeply and taught me immensely.
here is a poem from Treya...beautiful...thank you Treya!

Dazed, uncertain, hesitating,
Wings still damp, bent, unfolded,
As if still molded
By darkness, change, confusion,
Bound still
In the emptied chrysalis.

The air stirs.
I tremble,
Fell still within that mold,
Shaped by a form I now
Vaguely sense
Is hollow, empty, spent,
Its work complete.

I only need to move--
One step, another, tentative,
And wait.

Feel the air dry this strange new form,
Watch tissue thin patterns of gold, black, orange,
Unfold into readiness,
Unfurl into openness,
As the air takes me,
Lifts me
Into suprise.

I know not what to do
Yet giddy with instinct
Throw myself out,
Caught by a current unseen,
Swoop low, glide high, dive
Into surrender.

A chrysalis stands now empty,
Drying in the sun,
Constraints forgotten by the life once served.

One day, perhaps, a child will come,
Will ask its mother,
"What strange creature one day lived
In such a tiny home?"

Treya Killam Wilber (1974)