Some Favorite Poems, Mine and Others
/Poetry for Bread for the Journey
Dear One and All,
Here are three poems, often mentioned, or quoted during our time together at Bread for The Journey, Kirkridge. And then a couple of my own that emerged at Kirkridge—that I shared with some folks in small groups, and that I wanted to share with everyone. (Head's Up, we plan to offer this program again in 2014-15.)
These Days
whatever you have to say, leave
the roots on, let them
dangle
And the dirt
Just to make clear
where they come from
--Charles Olson,
from Teaching with Fire:
Any Morning
Just lying on the couch and being happy.
Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head.
Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment, it has
so much to do in the world.
People who might judge are mostly asleep; they can't
monitor you all the time, and sometimes they forget.
When dawn flows over the hedge you can
get up and act busy.
Little corners like this, pieces of Heaven
left lying around, can be picked up and saved.
People wont even see that you have them,
they are so light and easy to hide.
Later in the day you can act like the others.
You can shake your head. You can frown.
~ William Stafford ~
(The Way It Is)
You Reading this, Be Ready
Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
Sound from outside fills the air?
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
Than the breathing respect that you carry
Wherever you go right now? Are you
Waiting for time to show you some better thoughts?
When you turn around, starting here, lift this
New glimpse that you found; carry into evening
All that you want from this day. This interval you spent
Reading or hearing this, keep it for life—
What can anyone give you greater than now,
Starting here, right in this room, when you turn
Around?
--William Stafford
The way it is; New and selected poems.
The poem starts out innocent enough
-from Stepping Stones, to be released Fall 2014, contact us to reserve a signed copy.
The poem
Starts out
Innocent enough,
Then takes a turn
Toward the truth—
Sudden and
Unexpected—
Like finding some
Abandoned shack
Deep in your woods,
The woods you thought
You knew—a place
Known only to
The animals—
It goes that way—
The poem does—
To some place old
And uninhabited,
Forgotten—
Moss covered roof,
Weak, sagging porch boards—
The poem
Turns toward
The truth like that.
Judy Brown, April 17, 2013
Wildflower rescue
-from Stepping Stones, to be released Fall 2014, contact us to reserve a signed copy.
Before the backhoe
Comes, they come
To save the wildflowers—
Before the bulldozers,
The ladies with the
Spades and trowels
Arrive, alert to
What can be conserved
When much is
Changing—progress
Has its cost
But not all costs
Are necessary—
Some come from
Negligence,
An inattention
To what you or I
Might do
To save
The beauty of the earth—
And so I buy their trilliums
To plant beside the cottage,
In our woods,
Passing the money
To these white haired ladies
For their conservation work—
Made hopeful
By their simple care—
My home
A foster home
For wildflowers.
Judy Brown, April 18, 2013
The Wildflower Rescue people are selling their flowers today and tomorrow at the Leland Green, in benefit of The Leelanau Conservancy.