Special Edition #50
Art by Félix Vallotton
1994: VII - Wendell Berry
I would not have been a poet
except that I have been in love
alive in this mortal world,
or an essayist except that I
have been bewildered and afraid,
or a storyteller had I not heard
stories passing to me through the air,
or a writer at all except
I have been wakeful at night
and words have come to me
out of their deep caves
needing to be remembered.
But on the days I am lucky
or blessed, I am silent.
I go into the one body
that two make in making marriage
that for all our trying, all
our deaf-and-dumb of speech,
has no tongue. Or I give myself
to gravity, light, and air
and am carried back
to solitary work in fields
and woods, where my hands
rest upon a world unnamed,
complete, unanswerable, and final
as our daily bread and meat.
The way of love leads all ways
to life beyond words, silent
and secret. To serve that triumph
I have done all the rest.
Other amazing poems I read this week:
"Tonight I have walked with you
along the deaf lanes of sleep,
and now that it is morning
nothing has changed,
other than that the two who during the night
were completely together
have left me once again this morning
and continued together further on their way." -Sleepwalk by Gerrit Achterberg
(Translated by Cliff Crego)
"I left this morning saying ‘I love you’ as if setting out for some unknown country instead of the corner shop. I wanted you to be sure, in case this time - out of, say, 10,000 departures I never made it back: although after 50 years together, 2 countries, 3 children, and several former journeys that would put this one to shame you’d think there’d be no need to pause on my own doorstep, suddenly afraid of the distance between us, of your absolute beauty, of the growing aloneness when I clicked the latch." -I left this morning by Peter Bland
"There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide:
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in –
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes." -Allow by Danna Faulds
"Diego:
It’s not love,
or tenderness,
or affection.
It’s life itself, my life,
that I found what I saw it in your hands,
in your mouth and in your breasts.
I have the taste of almonds from your lips in my mouth.
Our worlds have never gone outside.
Only one mountain can know the core of another mountain.
Your presence floats for a moment or two
as if wrapping my whole being in an anxious wait for the morning.
I notice that I’m with you.
At that instant still full of sensations,
my hands are sunk in oranges,
and my body feels surrounded by your arms." -from The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
Recommended Listening:
Pastoral Lullaby - Juana Zayas (one of the prettiest pieces of music I've ever heard)
Sesame Street: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Bring These Guided Meditations Outside with You
Where Do You Go To My Lovely - Peter Sarstedt Honey Moon - Mac DeMarco + Hosono House - Haruomi Hosono + Read this interview between Mac and his idol Haruomi Hosono
Links of the Week:
6 Cognitive Distortions That Could Be Fueling Your Anxious Thoughts (These common anxiety "mind traps" might sound familiar. Please read, understand, question, and address these in your own time and spend time with this article. I'm taking a print out to help me take better care of my mind.)
The Art of Learning, In and In Spite of School: A Conversation with Austin Kleon
An Illustrated Talk With Maurice Sendak | The New York Times (I too, am in love with the world. And with this beautifully illustrated interview by Christoph Niemann which made me tear up)
Create Your Manifesto for Success: Gretchen Rubin on #30DaysofGenius
Art by Pierre Boncompain
“There are days that must happen to you.”
-Walt Whitman
Thank you everybody who has been a part of this newsletter's journey from the very beginning. From being a daily newsletter for over 3 years to a weekly one for the past 50 odd weeks, this has been a dream that has manifested itself in magical ways.
If you feel like sharing your thoughts/feedback/feelings on this newsletter, feel free to reply to this email. If you think someone you know would enjoy reading these poems or exploring the music I recommend, add them to the mailing list. This has always been a way to enrich myself and others, and feed my curiosity.
Also, do visit the website and check out the poems, artworks, photo stories and comics people have submitted, if you haven't already!
That's all from me. Here's to 50 more! :) See you on the other side.
-Rohini