Poetry?

Penelope · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:58 pm Post subject:

Thank you Indigo - Everyone should be given a copy of 'The Prophet' at birth...don't you think?

I have known people who have been in such distress....but have been helped by this book.

I have sent it on to friends of my children who have been suffering from eating disorders....it is odd...that it seems to help them the most.

I find it ironic...that I am trying to help people in the world who are hungry because they don't have enough to eat....whilst here, in my own country...young (and older) people have enough and more than enough to eat...but are starving spiritually.

Saffron · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:23 pm Post subject:

This thread has made me so happy. I love reading everyones poem contributions. By the number of views Poetry? has had (over 700 in just a week), I am obviously not alone in finding comfort and joy in the lines of a poem. I am reading Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin, the May selection for non-fiction. Shubin writes:

"...on occasion, we see a pattern that reveals the order in what initially seems chaotic. A jumble becomes part of a simple plan, and you feel you are seeing right through something to find its essence."

I feel this way about poems -- little windows into some part of truth.

Saffron

Saffron · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:31 pm Post subject:

I can't let my daughter and Penelope's mention of The Prophet go unremarked upon. I was given the book as a gift on my20th birthday. A passage that I particularly like and took to heart (right, Indigo) and have heard beautifully set to music is of children.

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's
longing for itself.
They come through you but not from
you,
And though they are with you yet they
belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not
your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not
their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even
in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek
not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries
with yesterday.

ralphinlaos · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:39 am Post subject:

I enjoy everthing by Noel Coward - and think I have read or heard or seen most of his work. The Noel Coward Diaries are terrific. He had a long and productive life; I visited his home in Jamaica years ago.

I've often thought this just about sums me up (from Sir Noel):

"I believe, that since my life began, all I've ever had is just a talent to amuse."

The Prophet just keeps on being discovered by each new generation, doesn't it? I remember reading it when I was in my twenties but haven't seen a copy since. I think The Prophet, like a few other classics, continues to sell (and be read) year after year.

Indigo, I went back and read your Frank O'Hara poem - I'm going to find more of his writings.

Ralph

Saffron · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:16 pm Post subject: Happy May Day!

I pulled this poem of the Poets.org Poem of the day site.

May Day
by Phillis Levin

I've decided to waste my life again,
Like I used to: get drunk on
The light in the leaves, find a wall
Against which something can happen,

Whatever may have happened
Long ago—let a bullet hole echoing
The will of an executioner, a crevice
In which a love note was hidden,

Be a cell where a struggling tendril
Utters a few spare syllables at dawn.
I've decided to waste my life
In a new way, to forget whoever

Touched a hair on my head, because
It doesn't matter what came to pass,
Only that it passed, because we repeat
Ourselves, we repeat ourselves.

I've decided to walk a long way
Out of the way, to allow something
Dreaded to waken for no good reason,
Let it go without saying,

Let it go as it will to the place
It will go without saying: a wall
Against which a body was pressed
For no good reason, other than this.

Penelope · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject:

It is 1st May - and as is the tradition in this Country
Voting day - local elections only...for the Parish Council

We have just strolled around to the Church Hall and...
We voted for the Tory Candidate.....We are not of that Political persuasion
But this candidate is an old friend....and we like him
So we voted for him.......

Thus, we compromise our ideals.....for the sake of mere affection. Smile

Saffron · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:58 pm Post subject:

President Camacho · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:04 pm Post subject:

I thought we were all supposed to read Your Inner Fish at the same time. How does this work? Should I be reading already?

Saffron · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:06 pm Post subject:

President Camacho · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 7:07 pm Post subject:

Saffron, I don't know if Chris still needs someone to lead the discussion but if you're already ahead in reading, you should volunteer! Razz

Penelope · Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 4:17 am Post subject:

I consider most of the people on this forum as 'friends' Saffron.

We talk about some very contentious issues.....and get to know one another without appearances getting in the way too much.

I have been thinking.....don't we love people for the oddest reasons?....It is not about being 'nice' or 'good' or cheerful or optimistic is it?

We used to have a grimly cheerful woman come into our office every morning.....beeming smile.....'Good Morning Ladies!!!' Some of us wanted to stab her and others wanted to poison her coffee!!! Laughing

Saffron · Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 8:48 pm Post subject: Li-Young Lee reading aloud

I hope this works!

http://media.wwnorton.com/trade/nortonpoets/Lee_To-Hold.m4a

The link above is to an audio of Li-Young Lee reading his poem Hold. I posted an excerpt of this poem earlier in the thread. His voice and the tempo of his reading make the poem even more beautiful.

Saffron · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 12:46 pm Post subject: From Blossoms

The poetry of Li-Young Lee is new to me. I can hardly believe I've not come across him before last Sunday, in the Book World section. Here is one more.

From blossoms

From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

DWill · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 10:30 pm Post subject:

Pity poor me, with my slow connection. I can't see the video, but thanks for the poem.
Will

Saffron · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 11:20 pm Post subject:


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