Weekly Edition #17
All That Is Glorious Around Us by by Barbara Crooker
is not, for me, these grand vistas, sublime peaks, mist-filled
overlooks, towering clouds, but doing errands on a day
of driving rain, staying dry inside the silver skin of the car,
160,000 miles, still running just fine. Or later,
sitting in a café warmed by the steam
from white chicken chili, two cups of dark coffee,
watching the red and gold leaves race down the street,
confetti from autumn's bright parade. And I think
of how my mother struggles to breathe, how few good days
she has now, how we never think about the glories
of breath, oxygen cascading down our throats to the lungs,
simple as the journey of water over a rock. It is the nature
of stone / to be satisfied / writes Mary Oliver, It is the nature
of water / to want to be somewhere else, rushing down
a rocky tor or high escarpment, the panoramic landscape
boundless behind it. But everything glorious is around
us already: black and blue graffiti shining in the rain's
bright glaze, the small rainbows of oil on the pavement,
where the last car to park has left its mark on the glistening
street, this radiant world.
Art by Jules Chapon
Some more poems worth reading:
"be softer with you.
you are a breathing thing.
a memory to someone.
a home to a life."
-Nayyirah Waheed
"Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." -Desiderata by Max Ehrmann
"She,
In the dark,
Found light
Brighter than many ever see.
She,
Within herself,
Found loveliness,
Through the soul’s own mastery.
And now the world receives
From her dower:
The message of the strength
Of inner power." -Helen Keller, by Langston Hughes
"Sorry for mercury strewn in veins of fish,
for traces of carbon monoxide loose in the air,
for radiation that circles and enters the aura.
Sorry for deliberate puffs and sips
late in the night, for an empty stomach
burning with coffee grounds," -Apology to the Body by Lory Bedikian "You think I’m not a goddess?
Try me.
This is a torch song.
Touch me and you’ll burn." -Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing by Margaret Atwood
Recommended Listening:
Warsan Shire reading at the launch of the Bloodaxe anthology, Ten: the New Wave Dream 3 (in the midst of my life) - Max Richter Stress and our Evolving Consciousness - Tara Brach The Poetry Radio Project How to Live Life on Your Own Terms
Links of the Week:
How to keep going by Austin Kleon
Simon Sinek on Millennials in the Workplace TED Talks that explain difficult topics to kids The Human Side of Transformation Confronting Mass Extinction with Poignant, Intimate Portraits of Animals