poems

‘ a return to the strange idea of continuous living despite the mess of us’ (Ada Limon)

We were listening to music we’d “liked” long ago on SoundCloud and forgotten, when suddenly we heard the great Ada Limón‘ reading her poem, Instructions for Not Giving Up. It arrived with perfect timing.

Head, Heart (For Cara de Silva)

Reeling from the news that our friend Cara de Silva had passed away, we cast about for solace for ourselves and for her close friends whom we knew were grief-struck, missing their daily conversations with her. Into our hands jumped Maira Kalman’s wonderful book “My Favorite Things”, opening to this by Lydia Davis…

Reason for Optimism in 2023: The Universe In Verse on “What is Life?”

The perfect accompaniment to the reflective week between Christmas and New Years is the Universe in Verse, an event masterminded by The Marginalian’s Maria Popova, to explore the question “What is Life?” through science and poetry. A gathering of extraordinary humans “celebrate the marvel and mystery of life, from the creaturely to the cosmic, with stories from the history of science and our search for truth, illustrated with poems spanning centuries of human thought and feeling”. It offers a mightily hopeful view.

Synchronicity in the Edo, and Now

Soon after David Saltman called to read us 6 perfect words by Basho, the great Edo period poet, we stumbled on this image by Nahasawa Rosetsu, a painter from from the same period.

Why I Can’t NOT Write about Persimmons Every Year

There are good reasons I cannot NOT write about persimmons every winter. I love all the ways that they seem defiant, wild, beyond my control… I want others to find their way to the rare experience they offer.

Objects of Wonder in a Simple Life (Walt Whitman)

The other morning, I opened the blind just as the rising sun was turning everything golden and a double rainbow appeared over Harlem. It got me thinking about the word “miracle” and another citing of miracles by a 6 year old I know. And Walt Whitman’s mighty list.

How to Give Thanks in Dark Times (W.S. Merwin)

We know lots of wonderful poems of gratitude but only one that manages to express thanks amidst the very hard things that befall us in life. It is by W.S. Merwin and called simply “Thanks”. We find it remarkable and hard and heartbreaking and heartening, all that complexity of feeling, which echoes so perfectly that which we are living now…

Tree Rooms Hiding in Plain Sight (Wendell Berry)

Designer Russel Wright had the habit of shaping parts of the land around Manitoga, his home and studio in upstate New York, into “rooms”. Rather than making a room, I love the idea of an outdoor room coming into being simply by finding it or naming it, as happened when I stumbled on some ancient Beeches. Their branches arch down to the ground to define the space around them, making quiet leafy rooms. The feeling of hanging out in them is extraordinary. Wendell Berry nailed it.

Things to Consider When Eating Blackberries

When we stumbled on this still-life showing the lifecycle of a blackberry we thought “Ohhh! That’s what we should keep in mind as we eat the luscious fruit which is still in season into late September and early October. Its essential message sparked other ideas to accompany a feast of them.

Churches in Trees, Trees as Church

The image of a Serbian Orthodox church inside an oak tree got us thinking about trees being used as churches. What are the qualities of trees that make them a place for sanctuary, reflection, rest, prayer. We found the answer in Jo Shapcott’s glorious poem “I Go Inside the Tree”…

On ‘Allowing Fate to Flow Unimpeded’

A post-it marks a quote in The Hummingbird’s Daughter, the beautiful battered novel we found in the Little Free Library near our house. We’ve been mulling its essential lesson about allowing things to happen for weeks. And thinking about artists who use chance in their work, giving up control to allow unexpected things to happen.

When Luminous Things Speak to Each Other (Levertov, W.S. Merwin, Marina Adams)

For weeks, Czeslaw Milosz’ very personal anthology of poetry, A Book of Luminous Things has sat on our table to open anywhere for an unexpected view of our world. It’s made us realize that when we read a poem, it starts a conversation within us and with other things…

Mary Oliver on Taking the Day Off, “Letting the Voodoos of Ambition Sleep”

Just a reminder how much can happen when you take the day off…

The Unimagined Gifts of ‘Places with Terrible Wi-Fi’

J. Estanislao Lopez’ sublime poem “Places with Terrible Wi-Fi” makes us realize just how far the reach of wi-fi and the buzz of the world is now. And those parts of our lives it cannot touch. Ada Limón’s commentary captured the poem’s true heart.

Imagining a Forest Bed with a Poem by Mary Oliver

When we saw this image on @UpstateDiary, we thought what a lovely thing to build into a garden, and imagined ourselves resting on it, how instantly relaxed and at ease we would feel in the fragrant green. Then this Mary Oliver poem jumped into our hands, expanding its possibilities…

An Ad Hoc Indoor Pond for Spring Blossoms (Su Tung Po)

Blossoms knocked off their stems make for free flower arrangements in the form of ad hoc indoor ponds like the one photographer Maria Robledo devised (the perfect accompaniment to this poem written over a thousand years ago)

The New Year is a Seed (Etel Adnan, Stonehouse)

One of the very best views of the New Year we’ve seen is from Lebanese-American poet and artist, Etel Adnan. Shortly after we read it, this poem* from the great 13th century Chinese poet, Stonehouse jumped into our hands. Amidst darkness that seems so pervasive, they gave just the reminder we needed.

A Ritual for Eating a Persimmon with a Sun Inside

Every year when persimmons are in season, I employ a sort of ritual to deeply enjoy the experience of perfection that the miraculous fruit can yield. I amplify it by reading Li-Young Lee’s astonishing poem Persimmons out loud. Poem and ripe persimmon possess beauty in equal measure that never fails to knock me out.

How to Slice Garlic, Prison-Style with Poem

We love this clip from Martin Scorcese’s brilliant film Goodfellas for teaching us a way to do something we’ve done thousands of time — slice garlic — to make a little go a long way. As well as for reminding us of garlic’s bigger meaning….

2 Minutes of Forest Therapy + Merwin’s ‘Thanks’

Over the years, we’ve found many ways to express thanks. Close to our heart is this W.S. Merwin poem that finds a way to say thanks in the midst of our beautiful, frightening, wounded, wounding world. We offer it with a big hunk of beauty from a Mexican forest.

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