Poems for Aug. 17

In Praise of Dreams by Gary Soto 

In Praise of Dreams by Wislawa Szymborska

Magic by Hiram Larew

Afterlife with a Gentle Afterward by Matthew Henriksen

Phone Therapy by Ellen Bass

Poem by James Schuyler

Scarf by Rita Dove

Discussion: 

Soto/Szymborska: In Praise of Dreams: Many questions rise up when putting two poems with the same title side by side!  What if we had started with reading Szymborska, followed by Soto?  What if we didn't know anything about either poet?  What influences how we read words on a page, where the voice, identity,  of the poet is absent? How important are background circumstances?

We certainly all concurred that everyone borrows from everyone... witness composers writing variations on a theme by xyz hitherto established! 

Comparing the two poems, we felt each poet had a different orientation to being.  Soto, as Mexican-American has a different attitude to women perhaps.  The expression "why don't you throw your mother an occasional bone" came up with the ending... and in addition to admiring his cleverness, we also wondered if God is on his side?  He doesn't necessarily accept a circumstance, as he is busily engaging with the world.  Szymborska on the other hand seems to go deeper, drawing on other sources, such as ancient Greeks, saints, imagines herself as virtuoso, with no assistance for such things as flying, breathing under water, discovering mythical Atlantis.   

Soto's ending leaves us with a sense of Praise for some God in charge; Szymborska's ending makes you wonder where her dreams have taken her that would have such metaphorical possibilities as two suns, penguins clear as day at night.  And you?  What would  like to be?  What do you dream of that goes beyond aspirations?

Magic/Larew: Do see Eric Epstein's ASL translation : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDUFK9pjVHc&t=0s. He creates magic and further, the sonic references of words "sounds" and "voices" are the hands themselves, flash-blinking, touch-topping, leaping into the heart and blazing outwards.  Perhaps magic realism.  Larew's background in agriculture and addressing hunger, and belief in the power of poetry to address it explained here: https://www.poetryxhunger.com/initiative-founder.html

We spoke of the "translator-traitor" phenomenon... Judith brought up how the Chinese understanding of translation is "all the threads, but not the pattern.  Case in point, be aware of differences in translations. Judith highly recommends Brian Hooker's translation of Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac".

Maura was reminded by the poem of viewing the recent super moon illuminating a tree-- which at first looked like a far-off fire in a field, perhaps a full-decorated and illuminated Christmas tree... and then as the moon rose higher, it became clear the "magic" of its light.

Afterlife with a Gentle Afterward: Such an intriguing title.  Beautiful binding of slant rhymes (reed/dreamed; sky/ lied/light).  We do not know the circumstances of the writing of the poem, but it feels that this young man, who passed away at age 45, had a premonition.  Maura's story enhances its presence. 

Phone Therapy: What an opening line!  I was relief... and such a masterful thumbnail sketch of New York City.  We imagined other situations where we haven't a clue as to what to say... how something surprisingly comes up.  Some analyzed the situation, imagining the cry for help, the power of postponement.  Is Ellen Bass the "Ann Landers of Poetry"? She goes beyond.  The last stanza with the memorable imagery of the goldfish, the turn in the glass bowl... the match to another through a cord strung under yet more others, the wait for the wave of sound... and that surprise of agreement to wait. OK. Masterful.  

Poem: Beautiful villanelle... Each tercet starts with a statement.  Ends with a conclusion. We enjoyed the reversal of art/death being brief; life/friendship long.  That common way that lasts.

Scarf:  What a beautifully sensuous poem!  beauty lies... with its double meaning in the eye... the call on the sound of silk as music over a bared/ (line stanza break... ) neck.  The additional last word "or a lover" dropped ever so gently in conclusion.  Many feel they will not think of a silk scarf, or wearing one in the same way.

Extra!

Praise by Angelo Geter : probably not enough time to read this poem. many of you may enjoy reading it outside of the session: https://poets.org/poem/praise?mbd=1

and had thought many care givers might enjoy this: https://www.slowdownshow.org/episode/2022/08/03/732-caregiving

The preliminary note gives as much of a glimpse into that tender complexity of care work as the poem…

https://www.slowdownshow.org/episode/2022/08/03/732-caregiving

August 10

For fun and followup from 8/3:

Movie suggestions:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10189300/

Lunana:  A Yak in the Classroom

 

The Man in the Hat : https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_man_in_the_hat

 

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Bus-Timothy-Spall/dp/B09P17NTF8

Marna recommended this: (It says unavailable, but has this call number at library: 821.9208)

Stairs and whispers : D/deaf and disabled poets write back(2017)

Mrs. Sisyphus by Carol Ann Duffy https://mrssisyphus.weebly.com/

**These New Yorker Cartoons:

 Alas, I miss another Wednesday! Session II of National Poet Laureates (NPL)

Apology for Old Clothes  (published 1979) by Donald Hall 1928–2018 (NPL 2006-2007)

Lullaby  by Louise Glück (NPL 2003-2004)

American Sonnet  (publ. 1989) Billy Collins (b 1941) (NPL 2001-2003)

**

The View from the Road  by Robert Pinksy** (NPL 1997-2001)

After the Gentle Poet Kobayashi Issa Robert Hass  ( b. 1941)(NPL 1995-1997) 

https://gwarlingo.com/2012/the-sunday-poem-kobayashi-issa-translated-and-read-by-robert-hass/

Ballad of Blossom by Mona Van Duyn  (published August 1979)  (NPL 1992-1995) 

**Stanley Kunitz - Twice: (poet laureate consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress from (1974 to 1976 and from 2000 to 2001.). (We discussed his poem, The Layers 7/13)

Ars Poetica  by Rita Dove  (b. 1952) (NPL 1993-1995)

Constancy by Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) (NPL 1991-1992)

Bernie brought up the conversations in 2002 that produced this book Wild Braid:  A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden https://geninelentine.com/the-wild-braid/Constancy by Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) (NPL 1991-1992)

Paul's write up: 

12 regulars, Judith  not feeling well and Mary at dentist, so, down 2 biggies. 

    A lot of great insights into your selections of philosophical stuff.  Billy Collins entertained, Rita Dove baffled us. We took a lot of angles and thrusts in trying to understand her. When I asked later if all were ready to move on, the jury of twelve gave unanimous assent. It was, nevertheless  a nice poem. There were no losers in the selections. Lotta talk on the Jos. Brodsky number.  I reminded the group of a Will Rogers Quip...." Don't squat if you're wearin' your spurs. "  We praised the Lord and went on our ways.

Aug. 3, 2022

See  Barb’s collaborative book, Left Behind,  with photographs by her nephew and her poems.  In this interview, she reads “Screened Back Porch” (p. 51)

https://www.rochesterfirst.com/arts/keeping-a-promise-rochester-writer-completes-art-exhibit-following-nephews-suicide/

Poems:

 Octavia Butler excerpt from from Parable of the Sower (1993) — the first part of her oracular Earthseed allegory —

Lucky  by Carl Dennis

Camouflage by Katie Kemple - ekphrastic response to painting, El Camino de Esmeralda, Danelle Rivas.

September 1, 1939 by W. H. Auden 

Graduation Speech by Charles W. Pratt

**

Octavia Butler: Judith filled us in on her bio, as first black woman science fiction writer. As noted, the words came from her 1993 masterwork, Parable of the Sower, the first part of her oracular Earthed allegory. 

These 8 lines, in 4 couplets, each containing the word, change, (and the second stanza containing it twice!) gave rise to a discussion that covered big bang theory, advice for solid social interaction, and all manner of how life works.  Paul suggested from a philosopher's point of view, it might be good to start with the 3rd couplet.  He quickly followed with, "I have change in the pocket.  God's in my pocket too".

Martin promises to send a poem in his head that embraces the idea that reality is something that always existed and the linking of the way nature works with the complex diversity of life... 

Group advice: Imagine if indeed, we aimed to "touch" each other, not just physically, but emotionally.

It would be good if we all try to read about someone who doesn't ressemble us.  

It reminded Judith of Understood Betsy   A great model of how to make a confession, that becomes a portrait of a beloved object. 

Lucky by Carl Dennis.  We enjoyed the tone blending a touch of sarcastic irony and great tenderness in this personnification of a car and the poets "ode" to it.  It reminded Bernie of the story of the Chinese farmer and how events might be interpreted as fortunate or misfortunate. https://www.craftdeology.com/the-story-of-the-chinese-farmer-by-alan-watts/.  It reminded reminded Judith of Understood Betsy.  

A great model of how to make a confession about oneself, through a portrait of a beloved object.

I give the story away here... the poem brings it to life and brought us all howling!

How lucky... no one hurt and the car made no accusations... and what a patient car, although we all agreed, no car is ever where you think you left it... No need to apologize to the car for the mangled state after the accident, the frugal treatment.  What a trusting car, thinking you are the protector, never

suspecting that the real danger was the owner.   

Camouflage by Katie Kemple: This reminded Bernie of Michael Pollan's work which looks at the power of psychedelics for treatment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Change_Your_Mind

It reminded Judith of Ruddigore. We could find all the objects mentioned, and I especially loved the chopsticks (final word) pinching a dumpling, illustrating this idea of how to cope with images.  Why the title?  Perhaps the poet thinks

she is creating her own biographical effigy of herself and this "covers up" the who she is.  The note doesn't give us a clue to the title, only to the poet's attraction to the painting, and how it seemed "a hand of it all, kept painting to keep the images in frame".  

Poem prompt:  How does it feel to be an image in a painting? 

September 1, 1939: There is quite some background about this poem, where each thought is a sentence, each sentence a stanza, and as Judith remarked, filled with rhyme and the strong beat of the  rhythm ressembles a hunting poem.  She compared the rhythm to Siegfried Sassoon, Does it Matter. https://englishverse.com/poems/does_it_matter and brought up Orwell and term, "smelly orthodoxies".

We spoke of the power of the memory of dates, like Dec. 7 as Pearl Harbor day, 9/11 and the twin towers, and here, the date Hitler invaded Poland.  In this poem, it feels as though it is as pertinent now, as then.  The choice language to describe the feel of "uncertain and afraid/ as clever hopes expire" of a low dishonest decade... is memorable.  "vain/Competitive excuse" of each language;

"the windiest militant trash, Important Persons shout"... as we cling an "average day".  Rose Marie spoke of a discussion about a book about Chile, Pinochet, Allende... how no one spoke really of this

as point of concern, and example of "Collective man" and "international wrong".

Yes... we crave, not universal love, but "to be loved alone"-- our own egotistical sense of survival.

And how to undo the folded lie, so neatly, romantically folded by "Authority"?  "We must love one another or die". Elaine O. brought this up as crux of the poem, and our one hope .  Kathy brought up the wording, not "or die" but "and die".  Auden decided that this line about love and death was untruthful; he remarked, in public and in private, that we are all destined to die, whether or not we love each other. It takes only a moment's reflection to recognize this as a misinterpretation of the line's actual meaning. When I read the last 5 lines, what is "dotted everywhere, flashing out in ironic points of light wherever the Just/Exchange their messages", I read it with a question mark.  "May I show an affirming flame" (as in, can I? or have I a right or courage to) as opposed to the imperative overtone of  "Let me".

Beleaguered by the same negation and despair, composed of Eros and Dust... what message would you propose?

Kathy proposed this fine You Tube  reading of the poem Auden 9.1.39 youtube reading by Michael Sheen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol8w3L04I8U

Graduation Speech by Charles W. Pratt. Garrison Keilor on Writer's Almanac posted this poem on June 23, 2011.  I believe this is his biography: https://paw.princeton.edu/memorial/charles-w-pratt-’56

Certainly with a background of Philips Academy and Princeton, returning to Philips to teach English, he saw plenty of commencement addresses.  (Judith reminded us, that "graduation" used to be called "commencement -- the beginning or start after the schooling... a subtle but important difference of implication.

(2010) This poem comes from the last section, "Uncollected Poems" of his book, From the Box marked Some Are miSSing 

Charles W. Pratt: https://www.spdbooks.org/Content/Site106/FilesSamples/9780980167283.pdf

Delightful metaphor of baking bread... and when is a loaf done... and how to enjoy the zen of loafing?

Poems for July 20

I was unable to be present to moderate, but sent in addition to the poems below, a link to the Dodge Festival "packet of poems" https://mcusercontent.com/fd2fe375bb1dabd5d4038c3c8/files/9ce4b2e9-0533-152b-cf78-e89d7d1bba5b/AHWP_2022_Poem_Packet.pdf?mc_cid=b7aef879fe&mc_eid=a98fdc3627 as there was no meeting 7/27 due to room conflict.

Same poems as above but with names of poets: https://mcusercontent.com/fd2fe375bb1dabd5d4038c3c8/files/4ce58bb2-fcf2-4439-e7f7-de7a48cd816c/AHWP_Poem_Packet_2022_with_attributions.01.pdf?mc_cid=78d68a077e&mc_eid=a98fdc3627

The poems for Wednesday 7/20  looked at samples of work from 8 of the National US Poet Laureates who served between 2007- 2022

Without by Joy Harjo (NPL 2019-22)

Ada Limon, when she received the news that she was nominated

as the 24th National Poet Laureate (NPL) of the United States, chose this poem by Joy Harjo,

the 23rd National Poet Laureate, to honor her as "incredible poet and human who served as Poet Laureate for an unprecedented three terms".

 sampling of her work!  

 An Old Story by Tracy K. Smith (NPL 2017-2019)  In 2019, Tracy created  the podcast the Slow Down, a daily site where she would pick a poem and introduce it with a short sentence or two. She passed on the responsibility to Ada Limon in September 2021.  This  is a poem of hers chosen by Ada. https://www.slowdownshow.org/episode/2022/01/12/587-an-old-story

Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings by Juan Felipe Herrera -- (NPL 2015-17) 

In Praise of What is Missing by Charles Wright (NPL 2014-5)

Imperatives for Carrying On in the Aftermath by Natasha Trethewey (NPL 2012-14)

Call It Music  by Philip Levine (NPL 2011-2012) 

(W.S. Merwin (NPL 2010-2011) "Merwin may be the living poet whose imagination is most purely -- and with the most reliable illusion of ease -- poetic." -- Pinsky https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2005/11/20/ws-merwin-has-inspired-p/c33b7c3a-cdbd-47a1-b9f9-955ea6eef8d4/  

Kathy Button is our Merwin specialist and we have discussed countless of his poems!)

Nothing Ventured Kay Ryan - 1945- (NPL 2008-2010)

All these Mirrors  by Charles Simic (NPL 2007-2008)

Poems for July 13

Answer July by Emily Dickinson

Archaic Torso of Apollo  by Rainer Maria Rilke

The Layers by Stanley Kunitz

Alcove by John Ashbery

The Treasure by Robinson Jeffers

Discussion:

To quote Emily Dickenson: We are creatures made only for slant truths and gradual dazzlements". The poems today brought out some beautiful sharings and comments which enhanced the understanding by shining light from multiple angles.

Dickinson: Is she asking July to answer?  Asking the reader to answer July?  Perhaps it doesn't matter since we all felt the intertwining of the seasons, the multiple possibilities of "Answer Thee—Me—(as in, July, do you answer as yourself)? Is that a question?  Is Thee "the May", as in the verb in a conditional or subjunctive?  Is "thee" another form of "me"?  What does May refute?  Elmer brought up that the snow and bells might refer to the snowbell tree, introduced to Europe and NE America in the late 19th century (Styrax:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrax )

We spent a delightful half hour discussing the possibilities -- who is the observer, and what observed? The poem is like Emily, enigmatic, but also coyly pulls our leg -- the year has the last word!

 Rilke seems to pursue the theme of seeking understanding what is no longer... There are many possible archaic torsos associated with this poem. This is a particularly beautiful one replete with the fragment of the Apollo's lyre, symbol of poetry and music, and the god's role as leader of the muses. https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1924.1017. (One sees the swan, symbol of the gift of prophecy; and griffins).

However, Rilke, who a few years after serving as secretary to Rodin, was probably observing this torso in the Louvre. http://nosauvelta.blogspot.com/2014/02/rainer-maria-rilkes-archaic-torso-of.html#axzz7Z18UoGmJ 

However which one,  there is no head, no face, and in the spirit of what art seeks to do, Rilke

is exploring the power of the poem to restore the spirit of the work.

Judith proposed that the poem, no matter the translation, is "magnificent, but rubbish" in its pretentiousness.  (Paul referred to the original in German which at least has a rhyme scheme, which helps counteract a sense of "drivel"). However, in the light of 1908, Rilke in Paris,  perhaps we are given here a glimpse of the poet talking to himself, sharing with the reader an experience of viewing a piece of art that blows him away.

For a side-by-side version of the German/English these notes on translation heighten the understanding.

http://poemsintranslation.blogspot.com/2016/04/rilke-archaic-torso-of-apollo-from.html

My footnote: "Go to the limits of your longing… Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror,” Rilke urged in his Book of Hours, his poetic cadence assuring us to “just keep going,” for “nearby is the country they call life.” Rilke sensed that, as the great naturalist John Muir observed a generation earlier, “when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”

See interview: https://poets.org/text/archaic-torso-apollo  These words seem important for the 21st century... what is happening  today requires us to truly study, not avert our gaze from what might otherwise repel us. "This is so powerful that you cannot stay out of it."

I am truly grateful for the careful research so many shared.  Carolyn shared a slant reference to the Aristotelian dictum, "Art is an imitation of nature" calling on the power of marble to cast an inner light.

Elaine brought up Rodin and his advice to observe carefully before attempting to produce any work of art,  and how inert matter must be transformed so that it comes alive spiritually; Rose-Marie brought up the pedantry of assumptions about perfection, and how this poem, by aiming to imitate the excellence of the sculpture's craft, perhaps because it is imperfect, demands our imagination to fully appreciate it.  

The discussion spent some time on the last two lines: "for here, there is no place/that does not see you."

This gaze as if like a streetlamp inside this headless statue is all powerful.  The two "otherwise" confirm:

It requires you to turn to look inside yourself!

The "wake up call" of the last line thus, continues to confirm what is important "to see".   

Kunitz: He served twice as National Poet Laureate 1974 to 1976, when the position was called Consultant in Poetry, and from 2000 to 2001.  We joked about the problem of excluding a poet like Robinson Jeffers because he did not have this position, understanding, honors are not guarantees of excellence!

In the Layers, the theme of delving beyond surface is continued.  Judith brought up the power of the words

like struggle, dwindling, wheel, heavy wings, manic dust, nimbus-clouded-- indeed, they don't depend on

sound, but "the meatiness of their meaning." 

And yet the language is deceptively simple, and we understand immediately, and relate to, how easy it is

to stray from who we are.

There are slant biblical references (the tribe scattered; pillar of cloud by day (fire by night), but as Bernie put it,, "no observable flourish of language-- just a welcome subtle directness."

We enjoyed the sublime paradoxical image of "feast of losses."  And stone (on the road) at a distance from

precious -- although, like Jeffers later, we understand the stumbling on the ordinary stone, is also treasure.

As for nimbus-clouded... in art, the radiant halo comes to mind... and of course, for weather, nimbus means rainstorm.  One needs to delve into the layers to understand!

Bernie brought up the love Kunitz had for his garden and conversations in 2002 that produced this book Wild Braid:  A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden https://geninelentine.com/the-wild-braid/

 He noted his longevity--101 years old when he passed on... and how this poem, written in his late 70s was to conclude 60 years of poetry.

This is the kind of poem that uplifts, and one trusts that the voice of the poet has indeed learned from

experience as he addresses aging, loss, and the constant of change.  Maura brought up the expression,

"the morning tells the day" which her grandmother would say-- holding a newborn baby, ( for each of her 18 grandchildren) imagining how it already contains the "who it is" and how this will manifest. 

Ashbery:  Well... a little surrealism adds to the lens of how to understand how to live in the actual "litter" we have created with plastics, and the effects we have on our planet with global warming... our inability to create harmonious conditions in cities for all... We loved the Ashbery brought up the word, "mugwump"--

and at least three different definitions were shared.  As Judith put it, it is a marriage of one side of the family being the "mugs" and on the other side of the fence, the "jumps", the wivery-quivery of not making up one's mind... Other terms were opportunist, but wiki will tell you "apolitical" which seems to be contradictory.  

We picked up on "as though they mattered" -- and this idea of having an "alcove" for others (who have caught the spirit).

Unlike the straight edge of a wall, an alcove, which comes for the arabic for "vault" is a recess...

And that's where you hear the breathing.  

Yes, terrible incident happen daily.  

What gets us around obstacles is the alcove... however you want to define it.

Jeffers:  The poem starts BIG, and we thought of the pictures we have seen from the new Webb Telescope! And then, the small man... stumbling on the amazing "inexhaustible treasure".  In Jewish mysticism, Bernie noted, it is believed that God put shards of himself in the creation. To fully understand the complexity of this thinking see this article: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/32246?lang=bi

Rose Marie was intrigued by the word, "Inhumanism" in the footnote and shared this: Robinson Jeffers Review-  Editors Note

https://robinsonjeffersassociation.org/wp-content/journal/JSvol_16.1.pdf

"From Jeffers’s viewpoint, all existence, even that of inanimate forms, is driven by an ancient and vast energy transformation system which, on our planet, has resulted in life, and ultimately in the life of human beings. All parts of the system are connected, and none is more important than any other. Furthermore, all of it is destined to cease to exist, not just the living beings, but the universe itself. All of this is divine, all of it God, including ourselves, shards of divinity. Jeffers adds as a further explanation of our human role: we can recognize and honor our share of this immense universe, but only if we shed the human concern with personal self-centeredness, which results in frustration, heartbreak, greed, and war.

June 29

 Ode to the Fish -- by Ellen Bass (picked by Jan)

The Fish by Mary Oliver

In my 2009 gift  book of favorite poems from O Pen participants: 

Applesauce by Ted Kooser  (Thanks Joyce!)

Different Ways to Pray by  Naomi Shihab Nye (Thanks Emily!)

What He Thought  by Heather McHugh. (from Charlotte Brusso.  Also one of my favorites!)

Also in this book : Asleep in the Mojave Desert  by Sylvia Plath (thank you Jim!)

A Christmas Carol by Christina Rossetti (thank you Mary!)

Two Old Crows  by Vachel Lindsay

Friend's Greeting by Edgar A. Guest: https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=1687

Mark Harris in 1959 exhorted us to declare ... once and forever... he was never a poet."

And yet... do we not all feel, as Doris quoted in his first stanza, " Friend's Greeting" 

I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me;
I'd like to be the help that you've been always glad to be;
I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day
As you have meant, old friend of mine, to me along the way

July 6

Growing Away by Barb Murphy from  Left Behind (Barb’s  collaboration with her nephew, Joe Ripperger, his photographs of Rochester and her poetic (ekphrastic) responses are on view at the Joy Gallery : 498 W. Main St. Rochester  : July 9, 16, 23, 30 :  10-2 pm)

**

The next poems come Poems from Here:  poems for the planet edited by Elizabeth J. Coleman 

 

from Section I : Poems for our Planet/ Where you’d want to come from

Image of Kindness  by Esma'il Kho'i

A Very Common Field  by PattiAnn Rogers 

 Letter to Arturo -- by Lucha Corpi (from Looking Out, Looking in: Anthology of Latino Poetry)

from Section II: Our Endangered world/The Gentle Light that Vanished

The gull inch-perfect over water  by Louise Herlin, translated from the French by Martin Sorrell 

from Section III: Poems for the animals/As if they'd never been

The Weighing by Jane Hirschfield

from Section IV: Voices of Young people (poems written by those between 6-18 years old)

Dolbear's Law  by Noa Gur-Arie. (Evanston, Ill; Polyphony H.S.)

In the Summer  by Kira Pelowitz (17 yr old from New Mexico)

To quote the introduction by Elizabeth Coleman, editor of this anthology of 128 poems:

“One gift of poetry, as a form of secular prayer, is to celebrate the earth, even as we grieve what we’ve done to our splendid planet and its creatures, the way we might celebrate and mourn a loved one in hospice care.”  She also calls on our responsibility to act, quoting Shelley who called poets “the unacknowledged legislators of the world”, and Pasternak who calls a book, “a burning, smoking piece of conscience.”

"This book contains many beautiful, generous poems and ideas for action.  It is my heartfelt

hope that they will inspire readers who ask themselves, 'but what can I do?' to see that there is a way forward—learning to share the earth and its resources, while take care of it together." --from forward by his Holiness the Dalai Lama."

 

Discussion:

Growing Away:  We enjoyed the urban landscape of the photograph, and the poem allows us to see "room for flowers blooming", invites us to consider a "more sustainable life".

 Image of Kindness — calling on a tree to provide the image.  Judith was reminded of "the Miroku Sosatsu" Buddha of the future. 6^th-7^th century CE,  at Chuguji Temple, Nara.  Lacquered camphor wood, with flaming mandorla.  There are images of it and other Miroku images on line.

 Looking through some of the huge tomes on Japanese art left me by my mother, I see that Japanese Kannon figures often have reverted to the male image of Avolakita-ishvara, but very austere and almost androgynous.  The most popular Chinese Kuan Yins are more feminine

A Very Common Field : addressed the paradox of sensing something familiar in a wild meadow, but unable to pin it down… this “more than” which brings great depth to a day.

Letter to Arturo: interesting that it could be a love letter to a husband, or lover, or perhaps a son.  The final stanza left us feeling that choking feeling that often comes from not being able to say what cannot be said. Good tie of love with observation.

  "art and humor are not linear"... and the book The Acts of Creation by Kessler  https://www.amazon.com/Act-Creation-Arthur-Koestler/dp/1939438985

came up.  

The next poem, The Gull inch-perfect over water translated from the French — left us feeling we stumbled on some surrealist scene.  The translator took great poetic license in rendering it into English.   A very disturbing comparison between  a crane, as bird and crane as bird is taken down a "louch" (shady, fishy)  interpretation that is not in the original.  No "noise gags the day" or 

"making space a prison; trees its henchman; season its captive.

 The favorite of the group was by Jane Hirschfield, The Weighing… the last two stanzas sum up a beautiful understanding of life. 

“So few grains of happiness

measured against all the dark

and still the scales balance.

The world asks of us

only the strength we have and we give it.

Then it asks for more, and we give it.”

However one “weighs” the heart’s reasons, however forgiveness happens or not (referred to in the beginning of the poem), however one

might label and measure… we give what it is we can give— no matter how someone else might label and measure it.

She does not go into a discussion of confidence, examination of conscience.  In her discrete Buddhist way.

Dolbear's Law:   How do we think and how does this change?   

Fortunately, several looked up this American physicist and inventor (11/10/1837- 2/23/1910)and the poem

of course, refers to crickets and temperature, which Amos Dolbear figured out were related.  

Somehow this inspired to Judith to speak about the Cecchitti school and a caricature of a violinist as cricket -- 

from The Legat Saga

https://www.cecchetti.org

I was thoroughly impressed that this was by a teen from Polyphony HS, and the poem appeared in Best Teen Writing 2014.

In the Summer  

Judith pointed out that the oyster poem, might well contain a pearl!

We ended with Any Journey  by William Stafford