Poetry

What I’m Reading in July

KimLeave a comment

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small compensation at no extra cost to you. This helps keep my blog ad-free.

It’s good to be back in this space. I’ve missed it. My soul missed it–this safe little corner where I share what I feel is good and lovely and worthwhile in my life, and particularly, the poetry and prose I’m reading.

So why the long hiatus? Well, sadly, we’ve had a death in our family. My kids’ father passed away in June, following a motorcycle accident and an extended stay in ICU. Even though we were no longer “together”, we were still co-parents and friends, and this feels very hard. The kids miss him terribly. His family and friends miss him. And I miss him. We each experience grief uniquely, while sharing in the sorrow together. Our friends’ love and support refreshes and strengthens us when we are weary.

And as unbelievable as it all feels right now, the sun continues to rise and set each day. We still need to eat, rest, work, and take care of our responsibilities. We still have our gardens, our daily joys and challenges, and yes, we have our books. In the past poetry has been a source of healing, speaking light to the darkness and peace to the parts of myself and my story I have yet to understand.

Two books of poetry I am drinking in this month:

Inward by Yung Pueblo. Each page is a poem in the form of a self-help message, note of encouragement, or a wise saying. Here’s an excerpt:

don't run away
from heavy emotions

honor the anger;
give pain the space
it needs to breathe

this is how we let go

Rhythms and Roads by Victoria Erickson is an introspective collection of thoughtful, sensitive verses that soothes, gently prods towards healing, and encourages each of us to be ourselves. Here is an example:

There will come a time
when you'll meet acceptance.
Your shoulders will soften,
the sky will stretch on,
and the night will hold a pulse
both electric and warm.
And the moon will feel familiar.

So check out these two collections of poetry if you haven’t already. The words and messages within feel loving, comforting and kind, and our world needs more of these right now.

As always, I would love to know what you’re reading this July. Please share in the comments below.

Evening Poetry, April 1

KimLeave a comment 
Sutra 26 from The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder & Delight
by Lorin Roche

The One Who Is at Play Everywhere says,

There is a space in the heart where everything meets.
Come here if you want to find me.
Mind, senses, soul, eternity – all are here.
Are you here?

Enter the bowl of vastness that is the heart.
Listen to the song that is always resonating.
Give yourself to it with total abandon.
Quiet ecstasy is here,
And a steady, regal sense
Of resting in a perfect spot.
You who are the embodiment of blessing,
Once you know the way,
The nature of attention will call you to return.
Again and Again, answer that call,
And be saturated with knowing,
“I belong here, I am at home.”

Evening Poetry, March 31

KimLeave a comment 
Spring
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

You can find this poem in Collected Poems.

Evening Poetry, March 30

KimLeave a comment 
I No Longer Pray For Peace
by Amy Weems

On the edge of war, one foot already in,

I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.

I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderheartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm’s way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.

I pray that all the “God talk”
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.

I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.

Some say there is no hope,
but then I’ve always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God……
that we can truly love one another.

I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.

You can find this poem in From Advent's Alleluia to Easter's Morning Light: Poetry for Worship, Study, and Devotion.

Evening Poetry, March 29

KimLeave a comment

Famous

by Naomi Shihab Nye

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,   
which knew it would inherit the earth   
before anybody said so.   

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds   
watching him from the birdhouse.   

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.   

The idea you carry close to your bosom   
is famous to your bosom.   

The boot is famous to the earth,   
more famous than the dress shoe,   
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it   
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.   

I want to be famous to shuffling men   
who smile while crossing streets,   
sticky children in grocery lines,   
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,   
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,   
but because it never forgot what it could do.

You can find this poem in Words Under the Words: Selected Poems.

Evening Poetry, March 28

KimLeave a comment 
Letters to My Husband Far Away
by Gillian Wegener

The house is not empty without you.
It thrums and bumps, the walls relax and sigh.
The water heater dutifully comes on, rumbles
with heat, waiting for your shower to start.
How many times today have I heard
your truck in the driveway, the floor creak
with your step, felt your breath against
the back of my neck. At least that often,
I've turned to tell you something,
or hand you a piece of cheese or a plum,
but it's two more days until you return.
It's just me in this room, with this plum,
with this good fortune, with this far-flung love.

You can find this in Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection.

Evening Poetry, March 27

KimLeave a comment

Kindness

by Anya Silver

Last week, a nurse pulled a warm blanket
from a magical cave of heated cotton
and lay it on my lap, even wrapping
my feet. She admired my red sandals.
Once, a friend brought me a chicken
she’d roasted and packed with whole lemons.
I ate it with my fingers while it was still warm.
Kindnesses appear, then disappear so quickly
that I forget their brief streaks: they vanish,
while cruelty pearls its durable shell.
Goodness streams like hot water through my hair
and down my skin, and I’m able to live
again with the ache. Love wakens the world.
Kindness is my mother, sending me a yellow dress in the mail
for no reason other than to watch me twirl.

You can find this poem in Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection.

Evening Poetry, March 26

KimLeave a comment 
We Are Of A Tribe
by Alberto Ríos

We plant seeds in the ground
And dreams in the sky,
 
Hoping that, someday, the roots of one
Will meet the upstretched limbs of the other.
 
It has not happened yet.
We share the sky, all of us, the whole world:
 
Together, we are a tribe of eyes that look upward,
Even as we stand on uncertain ground.
 
The earth beneath us moves, quiet and wild,
Its boundaries shifting, its muscles wavering.
 
The dream of sky is indifferent to all this,
Impervious to borders, fences, reservations.
 
The sky is our common home, the place we all live.
There we are in the world together.
 
The dream of sky requires no passport.
Blue will not be fenced. Blue will not be a crime.
 
Look up. Stay awhile. Let your breathing slow.
Know that you always have a home here.

You can find this poem in Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems.

Evening Poetry, March 25

KimLeave a comment 
End Results
by Alice Wolf Gilborn

His turn for blood work this morning.
A routine test, but no breakfast, not
even coffee. Just twelve degrees—
I offer to walk the dog and after
the long ritual of dressing for frigid
weather, I plunge into the heartless air.
An orange cat crouched in the driveway
shifts its front paws; puffed up jays
squawk in the oak tree. The dog
stops—then sneezes mightily,
putting cat and cold on notice.

When I get back, he’s settled in his
favorite chair, newspaper on his lap.
Table’s set for one; a pot of water
boiling on the stove awaits its egg,
tea bag sits in a mug, a single slice
of toast is ready to pop. The radio
is off for once, so it’s our own voices
we hear, chatter we won’t remember
in a room warming with winter sun.
When he leaves, silence descends
like yesterday’s snow.

Eating my solitary breakfast,
I think of his small habitual gestures,
the way he has of wanting to nourish
the living: sparrows peck seed he’s
spread on the deck, his two feral 
cats feed at their bowl, at the table
I’m about to crack a perfect egg.
Sustenance of many years. I wish
him well, I wish him love, food
for our braided lives. I wish
all results positive. 

You can find this poem in Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection.

Evening Poetry, March 24

KimLeave a comment 
Blessing the Boats
by Lucille Clifton

may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back     may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that

You can find this poem in Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000.