I've been fortunate enough to join a poetry group via a few friends on Twitter. In two short months, I've read poetry collections that have buried themselves in my soul. C. D. Wright's One With Others is a what the writer herself defines as a "hybrid form." Wright artfully and gracefully weaves news reports, interviews, stories, and personal experience into a collection that breathes the history of her mentor, V, and the Civil Rights movement in Arkansas. I don't know that I will ever read a book that will move me more than this one. In the video below she talks a little about One With Others and reads a few of my favorite passages:
In arriving at the section in the book detailing the students walking to the all-white school and bravely linking arms together while singing "Like A Tree Planted by the Water," I stopped to google the song because I couldn't recall ever hearing it. After listening to the video below, I sat in silence with an aching yet hopeful heart. There are so many things we never learn in history class, and I am forever grateful for C. D. Wright and her poetry that articulates "the cruel radiance of what is."
What is the most important book you feel you've read in your life and why did it touch you as it did?
"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart" - William Wordsworth
This is exactly what Karen Gielen has done...Just see the incredible creations she's been sending through the mail to me during this month of letters. I'm in awe of her! And I'm so happy to have her as my pen pal!
I'm going to drink a mug of her "Creativi-tea" every day! Which one speaks to you the most? Have you received anything that inspires you through the mail during this month of letters?
My Goddaughter Penelope is the source of inspiration for today's post. Children are the truest reflection of the world and they fill it with hope, wonder, and spirit. Three things I learned from Penelope this week:
1. Don't be afraid to go out in the rain. That's why umbrellas exist. Rain takes on many forms in life and it's just like death and taxes in that you can always count on it coming around at some time or another.
2. There is always time to say, "Cheers." Raise your glass and say it as much and with as many as you can. You don't need a special occasion for it. The moment you're in is the special occasion. Cheers!
3. This one needs a preface: Nicole (Penelope's beautiful mother) and I took a trip to Hobby Lobby the other night because she wanted to buy some beads and other accessories to make Penelope a bracelet for Valentine's Day. While we waited to check out, Nicole eyed a little turtle you could "grow" in water and decided she wanted one for Penelope. Penelope named the turtle "Shrek" and curiously eyed him as Nicole placed him in a bowl of water while explaining to Penelope that "Shrek" was now sleeping and would grow to full-size over the next couple of days. You could sense her anticipation. Throughout the evening, she kept asking to see the turtle. The next day, Nicole told me Penelope kept wanting to see "Shrek" all night long. The moral I gleaned from this story: Too often we are so busy with our lives, we forget the importance of watching life grow and the joy that can come witnessing the every day.
Mine is a photograph of my Godchild Penelope creating her "mini-art" over the weekend. For me, she is a perfect pairing of hope and art in many senses of both words.
I was feeing a little melancholy this morning. I don't really know why. Maybe because I missed my early morning workout and my body was mad at me. Maybe because I have spent too much time pondering my life and future decisions. I don't know, but I just felt downright in the dumps.
I vented a little bit on Twitter, and then I sent out a call for poetry to help put a smile on my face. One of my new, sweet Twitter tweeps @jessicavarin came to the rescue and sent me a link with the following tweet: Try Gregory Orr. More hope than cheer. And then I found this poem ("To be alive" by Gregory Orr) to turn my frown upside down:
