Lovely! Your words remind me of the image out my window this morning when the tall locust trees (with their tiny bright-gold leaves) just rained and rained in the middle of a perfectly still, blue morning. And then the rain of leaves stopped. The tree had dropped its quota for the day and rested. Somehow, hundreds or thousands of leaves knew when to let go, without a breath of wind to push them. Tomorrow it will happen again.
What did I understand about any of it? I was indoors. Not much. Thanks to your suggestions, tomorrow I may under / stand better. Thank you.
Those days seem so long ago! Well, because they actually were. :-D Thanks for dropping in, Lisa. I'm happy that I've come a long way since then, and that you and your fabulous daily poems find their way into my heart these days! I too love the backstories of your poems. I love hearing about how each one came into being.
So beautiful! "I read my printed-out poems so often that whole stanzas of them crept inside and took up residence." - those poems that take up residence in our bodies are so precious. "i thank you god for most this amazing" by ee cummings is one of those for me. Do you know it, Priscilla? It's so life-affirming and nature loving, I thought it might resonate with you.
Oh, yes, Morgana, thanks for reminding me of that one! As the years passed, I welcomed cummings and so many others into residence too. Oliver's "Wild Geese" entered and stayed too, thank goodness. :-)
Someone else read Cummings' "i carry your heart with me" quite movingly in the "Poems to carry in the blood" event. It will be in the compilation I'm sending out Friday, in case you're curious to hear it.
Yes I'd like to hear it! I once attended a 5Rhythms and poetry workshop where we had to speak a favourite poem to one other person over and over in different ways, like a kind of incantation. I chose that poem - it's medicine was so powerful.
What a lovely idea! It's short notice, but if you have time to record yourself reading or reciting it in a Substack post some time tomorrow (Thursday), I'll be glad to sneak you in under the wire to the Poems to Carry in the Blood compilation going out to my subscribers Friday. No worries if it's not the right thing for you - but just in case the thought appeals. :-) If you decide to go for it, just tag me in the post, as Priscilla did here (@tarapenry).
John, a third of my books are poetry books! I have fallen in love over and over discovering a new poet. I go to poetry like many go to scripture, to find meaning and companionship and the dazzle of words placed just right.
I love that you give us tastes and glimpses of that whole folder of poetry. And this:
"They pointed toward something I could just barely glimpse. Some richness of spirit that I wanted more of. Certain doors inside of me were creaking open, and somehow these poems were related to it. I needed them to oil those hinges, to keep those doors from ever closing again."
I think many of us can recognize the experience you describe with such precision and grace.
I’m so glad you can relate, Tara! When the mystery and magic call, it’s good to answer. That folder was my way of saying yes at the time. Happy to report that it kept the door open just long enough for the next call to arrive. And I found the things I longed for. The yearning shows the way, doesn’t it? And thanks again for this rich poetry party!
I slow and then I under
Stand
Beneath
This golden
Rain tree.
Maui 2024
Ahh, the slowing. Mahalo, John.
Lovely! Your words remind me of the image out my window this morning when the tall locust trees (with their tiny bright-gold leaves) just rained and rained in the middle of a perfectly still, blue morning. And then the rain of leaves stopped. The tree had dropped its quota for the day and rested. Somehow, hundreds or thousands of leaves knew when to let go, without a breath of wind to push them. Tomorrow it will happen again.
What did I understand about any of it? I was indoors. Not much. Thanks to your suggestions, tomorrow I may under / stand better. Thank you.
Boise 2024
I loved following along in the story of how poetry found its way into your heart!
Those days seem so long ago! Well, because they actually were. :-D Thanks for dropping in, Lisa. I'm happy that I've come a long way since then, and that you and your fabulous daily poems find their way into my heart these days! I too love the backstories of your poems. I love hearing about how each one came into being.
So beautiful! "I read my printed-out poems so often that whole stanzas of them crept inside and took up residence." - those poems that take up residence in our bodies are so precious. "i thank you god for most this amazing" by ee cummings is one of those for me. Do you know it, Priscilla? It's so life-affirming and nature loving, I thought it might resonate with you.
Oh, yes, Morgana, thanks for reminding me of that one! As the years passed, I welcomed cummings and so many others into residence too. Oliver's "Wild Geese" entered and stayed too, thank goodness. :-)
Love Mary Oliver! That's great that you became acquainted with cummings too.
I love that Cummings poem, too.
Someone else read Cummings' "i carry your heart with me" quite movingly in the "Poems to carry in the blood" event. It will be in the compilation I'm sending out Friday, in case you're curious to hear it.
Yes I'd like to hear it! I once attended a 5Rhythms and poetry workshop where we had to speak a favourite poem to one other person over and over in different ways, like a kind of incantation. I chose that poem - it's medicine was so powerful.
What a lovely idea! It's short notice, but if you have time to record yourself reading or reciting it in a Substack post some time tomorrow (Thursday), I'll be glad to sneak you in under the wire to the Poems to Carry in the Blood compilation going out to my subscribers Friday. No worries if it's not the right thing for you - but just in case the thought appeals. :-) If you decide to go for it, just tag me in the post, as Priscilla did here (@tarapenry).
That sounds like a great opportunity - thank you! I'll see if I can get to it today.
What a joyful sharing!
Poetry has always been a dear friend to me. And it’s wonderful to read that it has been to you as well!
John, a third of my books are poetry books! I have fallen in love over and over discovering a new poet. I go to poetry like many go to scripture, to find meaning and companionship and the dazzle of words placed just right.
I love that you give us tastes and glimpses of that whole folder of poetry. And this:
"They pointed toward something I could just barely glimpse. Some richness of spirit that I wanted more of. Certain doors inside of me were creaking open, and somehow these poems were related to it. I needed them to oil those hinges, to keep those doors from ever closing again."
I think many of us can recognize the experience you describe with such precision and grace.
I’m so glad you can relate, Tara! When the mystery and magic call, it’s good to answer. That folder was my way of saying yes at the time. Happy to report that it kept the door open just long enough for the next call to arrive. And I found the things I longed for. The yearning shows the way, doesn’t it? And thanks again for this rich poetry party!
It seems I'm constantly finding myself the beneficiary of these parties. Now it's this abundance of poems. No complaints. ;-) Glad you could make it.