Day: September 15, 2023

Evening Poetry, September 15, 2023

KimLeave a comment
Photo by Nikolaeva Nastia on Pexels.com

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Do you love Mary Oliver’s poetry as much as I do? I never tire of reading it. Each poem pulls me away from the hustle and invites me to get outside, to notice what’s happening within and around me, and appreciate and really live in the experience of “this NOW”, as she writes in this poem.

Fall Song 
by Mary Oliver

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries - roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time's measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay - how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

You can find this poem in the collection American Primitive by Mary Oliver.

I started a Substack

KimLeave a comment

Are you familiar with Substack, the platform for writers? It’s a place where you can offer free and paid posts, you can have a podcast and post videos, and also host a community with their chat feature.

I’ve been on the fence about starting one since I’m blogging here and I post on Medium and sometimes on Patreon. (If you are saying to yourself, “She’s spread too thin,” you’re probably right.) So I’m planning on moving anything I write on Patreon over to Substack for paid subscribers.

So many writers I admire have a Substack now. I read a post from one writer yesterday who was responding to complaints from subscribers in her community about having to pay to read her writing on Substack. And how it can add up if one is a paid subscriber of several writers’ Substacks.

She made the point that she has written for free for years and will continue to do so, however, good writing takes time and thought and she believes in the exchange of energy, called payment, between writer and reader. I took some time to absorb what she wrote and I would have to agree with her.

So what’s my plan with this blog? I plan to continue publishing free content here. I love my little quiet, uncomplicated corner of the internet that I have vowed will remain ad-free. The format is simple: my thoughts on life as I experience it, book reviews, wellness, an occasional recipe or something about my business, and photos.

If you like this blog, join my Substack!

Join as a free subscriber, for a weekly free post and occasional bonus posts. Become a paid subscriber to receive two additional posts and a video each week. I’ll get more personal and go deeper with my paid posts. Paid subscribers also have access to chat which allows us to engage as a community. You’ll also receive invites to future online events such as book clubs, discussions, and hangouts. I’m calling my Substack “Old Soul Stories” and I’ll share where I came up with the idea for this name in a future Substack post. I hope you’ll come on over to Substack and subscribe!