Monday, April 29, 2013

A Glimmer of Light for a Rainy Mary Oliver Monday

Poppies by Mary Oliver from New and Selected Poems:  Volume One (Beacon Press)
The poppies send up their
orange flares; swaying
in the wind, their congregations
are a levitation

of bright dust, of thin
and lacy leaves.
There isn't a place
in this world that doesn't

sooner or later drown
in the indigos of darkness,
but now, for a while,
the roughage

shines like a miracle
as it floats above everything
with its yellow hair.
Of course nothing stops the cold,

black, curved blade
from hooking forward—
of course
loss is the great lesson.

But I also say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,

when it's done right,
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,

touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight—

and what are you going to do—
what can you do
about it—
deep, blue night?

So many invitations to be happy and opportunities to be washed in the river of earthly delight this rainy Monday morning . . . the moment early this morning when there was a sudden absence of noise-- no traffic, no birds-- and all I could hear was the rain hitting the leaves on the maple tree outside my bedroom window, looking out that same window when I got out of bed an hour later and seeing a teeny tiny rabbit eating violets in the back yard, a breakfast of strong coffee and good watermelon and a morning of quiet writing time at my desk.  Oh-- and of course the poppies I planted last weekend nodding their red-heads in the rain.

What is inviting you to delight, to holiness, to redemption today?

Monday, April 22, 2013

A Poem for Earth Day

'Nature' Is What We See by Emily Dickinson
'Nature' is what we see--
The Hill-- the Afternoon--
Squirrel--Eclipse--the Bumble bee--
Nay--Nature is Heaven--
Nature is what we hear--
The Boblink--the Sea--
Thunder--the Cricket--
Nay--Nature is Harmony--
Natures is what we know--
Yet have no art to say--
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.

This weekend I spent part of each day playing in the dirt-- planting poppies, herbs and a rose bush, sowing seeds in the wildflower and butterfly garden, digging up and moving rogue lilies to place where they can actually get some sun and blossom.  While my hands were busy digging, my eyes and ears were open. 

If nature is what I saw while I was engaged in this work of co-creating, it's the broken robin's egg under the flowering pink dogwood, sprouts of lily of the valley poking up through the mud, a rabbit pulling up dried grass to make a nest by the front porch, the blue and yellow blossoms of forget-me-nots.

If nature is what I heard, it was the chatter and creaks of a pair of rusty blackbirds warning me away from their nest in my neighbor's yard, the rustle of wind blowing through the new leaves on the maple trees, the buzz of a bumble bee hovering over fragrant white alyssum.

I read Emily Dickinson's poem as an invitation to attentiveness, an encouragement to be in the present moment, an act which, for me, often leads to gratitude.  When I go out for a walk later this afternoon I'll again have my eyes and ears open and come back with a different litany of what nature is. 

So on this Earth Day, I invite you to join Emily and I looking and listening, in considering what nature is for you . . .







Thursday, April 18, 2013

Celebrating National Poem in Your Pocket Day

Words by Catherine Fisher from The Unexplored Ocean (Seren)
They are stones
shaped to the hand. 
Fling them accurately.

They are horses.
Bridle them;
they'll run away with you.

They are windows,
opening on vistas
that are unreachable.

They are apples.
Bite on hardness
to the sweet core.

They are coracles;
flimsy,
soon overloaded.

They are candles.
Carry them carefully.
They have burned cities.

 



As part of National poetry month, today is National Poem in your Pocket Day.  Catherine Fisher's poem is the one I'll be carrying with me and sharing today.  If you'd like to get in on the celebration, take a few minutes today to share a poem with someone . . . email one to a friend, post one in the comments section of a blog (hint hint), read one to a family member, or carry a copy of a poem in your pocket and give it to an unsuspecting stranger. 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

If a picture is worth 1000 words, here's a6109 word post

Cherry Blossoms by Basho
How many, many things
They call to mind
These cherry-blossoms!
 
I've been so immersed in preparing for the upcoming pilgrimage to Wales that my poor wee blog has taken a back seat to resource writing.  I did manage to escape the shackles of my desk last week for a few hours and ventured downtown with a couple friends to walk around the tidal basin while the cherry blossoms were at their peak.  Rather than offering a reflection on Basho's poem this morning, I'll just offer you my pictures from that walk and let you see for yourself if they call to mind many, many things or maybe just many things. 




 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 





 
 
 

Monday, April 1, 2013

Mixing it up for National Poetry Month

A Loaf of Poetry by Koriyama Naoshi
you mix
the dough
of experience
with
the yeast
of inspiration
and knead it well
with love
and pound it
with all your might
and then
leave it
until
it puffs out big
with its own inner force
and then
knead it again
and
shape it
into a round form
and bake it

in the oven
of your heart.

Today is the first day of National Poetry Month in the U.S. and U.K. And what better way to celebrate than by continuing to post a poem a month for the next thirty days! 

Today is also April Fool's Day. 

April Fool's. 

After six weeks of posting every day*-- sometimes barely before the day had ended but still every day-- I need a break.  Most of my writing time and energy has gone into this blog since mid-March and there are some pieces of writing I had been working on that are crying out for my attention.  Plus, reading the forty-odd poems I've posted for Lent, in addition to the hundreds (thousands?) of others I read and considered but didn't end up posting, was a great reminder of how much I need to really hone my craft.  So instead of posting a poem a day during April, my intention is to write a poem a day. 

And no, that's not an April Fool's bit of folly.  I am going to roll up my sleeves each day and start mixing it up.  It will be a challenge for me because my practice of writing poems has always been linked to moments of divine inspiration-- so really not as much a practice as a whim.

Realizing this, I'm arming myself with resources to get me started-- forms to play with, books with writing exercises, an idea for a series of biographic poems, writing prompts from theNaPoWriMo website (National Poetry Writing Month) and of course my old stand by, Lectio Divina.  All these will all serve as the leavening when the natural yeast of inspiration isn't making the writing rise. 

So that's how I'll be marking the month.  If you want to join in the official celebration, check out the list of events sponsored by The Poetry Foundation here or the information on the website of the Academy of American Poets, who inaugurated the celebration in 1996.  Unofficially, you can celebrate by making a commitment to read more poetry this month.  Check out an anthology from your local library or browse poetry websites such as The Poetry Foundation or Poetry Chaikhana to discover a new-to-you poet.  Re-read your favorite poets.  Try to commit a poem to heart or share a copy with a friend . . . even better, share a poem with a stranger.  (Try this on April 18, National Poem in Your Pocket Day.) 

And maybe, just maybe, you could try writing a poem or two or thirty this month as well . . .


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* If you're a regular reader, you may have noticed I didn't post on Friday and Saturday.  That was a deliberate decision after agonizing for hours trying to find a Good Friday poem that spoke to my feelings about the season.  I finally decided that no poetry, no words, no images, just silence was the best way for me to mark the journey from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.