There’s always been a “contest between beauty and disaster.” But t o love life across that whole spectrum, rooted firmly in the heart, radiating compassion and generosity – that’s the thing, isn’t it? The Thing Is to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you’ve held dear [...]
For Pat Clark, in memoriam (May 18, 1935 - November 16, 2021), for the journey itself, and for all read the land as sacred text. Disjecta Membra Take a loose rein and a deep seat, John, my father-in-law, would say to someone starting out on a long journey, meaning, take it easy, relax, let what's [...]
Remember this: Look for the helpers. And this: You may be the helper someone else is looking for. Small Kindnesses I've been thinking about the way, when you walk down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs to let you by. Or how strangers still say "bless you" when someone sneezes, a leftover from [...]
Vast light, a million suns of kindness or love or compassion, amid the sea of sorrow and joy. May we all be dizzy in the shine of this forever-light. I Have a Witness Among the stars one light shone below the line of the mountains, a campfire maybe. Steady. All night I kept in mind [...]
Happy 14th Anniversary to Poem of the Month! And a perfect poemento to mark the occasion. In gratitude to you, poem lover. Avec amour, always. The Facts of Life That you were born and you will die. That you will sometimes love enough and sometimes not. That you will lie if only to yourself. That [...]
In the midst of dire reports and insane circus acts on the world stage, it feels right to close the year with this poem. Crazy maybe, yet to what the poet says, I say, amen, brother. Bless you, friends. Everything is Going to be All Right How should I not be glad to contemplate the [...]
This great, much needed poem is a potent antidote to despair. I'm also using it to celebrate 12 years for Poem of the Month. According to Kaveh Akbar: "...bewilderment is at the core of every great poem, and in order to be bewildered, you have to be able to wonder." Is this, then, why [...]
I have long loved this poem, deeply touching without a hint of sorrow or regret. The title is a clue. May your memories, likewise, bring a soft fragrance to your heart. I come back to the cottage in Santa Monica Canyon where Andrée and I were poor and Happy together. Sometimes we Were hungry and [...]
Stafford's poem, sobering yet encouraging, is instructive. May your contemplation on his words touch the truth within your own being. If you don't know the kind of person I am and I don't know the kind of person you are a pattern that others made may prevail in the world and following the wrong god [...]
Cutting Loose For James Dickey Sometimes from sorrow, for no reason, you sing. For no reason, you accept the way of being lost, cutting loose from all else and electing a world where you go where you want to. Arbitrary, sound comes, a reminder that a steady center is holding all else. If you listen, [...]