“On our film making adventure together through the North of England, David and I usually started the day by making plans for the day's filming over a hearty breakfast. 'Refuge' was a piece David wanted to capture during our week in England’s Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, but in order to do the theme of “refuge” justice on film required a very specific weather pattern: a localized deluge perhaps followed by radiant sunshine. Ever the optimist, David was quite confident the changeable weather gods of The North would provide, while I held onto a healthy skeptical optimism. So there we were, half an hour after breakfast, on a green country road, being absolutely pummelled by rain and wind as I tried in vain to keep my camera gear dry. I started rolling as David emerged around a curve in the lane, eyeing the narrow doorway of an old stone barn which would soon be his shelter. It came as little surprise to David when ten minutes later we were sun-soaked, reveling in the exact weather we needed to come to fruition in order to bring you our short film: Refuge.” - Bodi Hallett
-videography by Bodi Hallett
REFUGE Sometimes a nook, a wall half down, a swerve in the path where the breeze can’t catch you; other times a made shelter, a shepherd’s build up of flat stones curved to keep the wind off. Once, at the top of the pass, it was a cave in the mountain rock taking you in from the swirl and eddy of snow and the killing cold so you could live to a grey blank dawn. Then in Galicia, it was a breath of warmth from a kitchen door, palatial with light and a daughter’s smile; the family behind, asking you in, as if to say, of all shelter, traveller, you’ll ever find on the road, even with those you know, the stranger’s love is best of all. -from Pilgrim
This is beautiful. I have your book, Pilgrim, and have read this poem many times before, but the way you speak about refuge and shelter in the video shines a new light on it. Thank you for sharing it here, and for the fresh perspective it's given me. Sometimes poems find you, or return to you, just when you needed it.
As we live in a world where so many losing their shelters through natural and human made disasters, this feels very timely. That last line weaves right into my heart: "The stranger's love is best of all." Whether we are the stranger welcoming, being welcomed...or are meeting a new part of ourselves. May we all be willing to open hearts to the stranger.