Weekly Edition #30
Art by Francien Krieg
Lies by Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Lying to the young is wrong.
Proving to them that lies are true is wrong.
Telling them
that God’s in his heaven
and all’s well with the world
is wrong.
They know what you mean.
They are people too.
Tell them the difficulties
can’t be counted,
and let them see
not only
what will be
but see
with clarity
these present times.
Say obstacles exist they must encounter,
sorrow comes,
hardship happens.
The hell with it.
Who never knew
the price of happiness
will not be happy.
Forgive no error
you recognize,
it will repeat itself,
a hundredfold
and afterward
our pupils
will not forgive in us
what we forgave.
Other poems I enjoyed reading this week: (full poem in the links)
"No matter the rush of undertow
everything else is still
here. I scrawl your name
at the bottom of the river
I sing it and it sings me
back." -Untitled by Noor Ibn Najam
"Please know it received
my careful consideration.
I thank you for allowing
me to have a look,
and I wish you
the very best of luck
placing it elsewhere."
-I Long To Hold The Poetry Editor's Penis In My Hand by Francesca Bell
"This morning this planet is so loud with itself—
its winds, its insects, its grackles and mourning doves—
that I can hardly hear my own lamentations. This planet.
All its grooved bark, all its sand of quartz and bones
and volcanic glass, all its creeping thistle lacing the yards
with spiny purple. I’m trying to come down soft today.
I’m trying to see this place even as I’m walking through it." -Planet by Catherine Pierce
"I do not tear at the seams
I do not leak from the core
I do not fade away slowly
Dripping conscience through pores" -The moth-eater by Sarah Bigham
The gentle poetry of houseplants and familiar spaces
Art by Gitanjali Iyer
I wrote an essay on how the mundane inspires poetry for The Soup, an intimate website run by the inspiring Meera Ganapathi. Read my observations and curated poems + fall in love with Gitanjali Iyer's delicate illustrations for each poem
You can read the essay here: http://thesoup.website/thelifedesk/2019/2/7/poetryhouseplantsfamiliarspaces
Recommended Listening:
TCI Transmission 07: Carried by currents that care
Don't Let Me Down - Joy Crookes Barefoot in the Park - James Blake ft. ROSALÍA
Harmony Hall + 2021 - Vampire Weekend
Africa - Toto (Sweet Potato & Squash Cover)
Don't Know How to Keep Loving You - Julia Jacklin
The Room of Requirement (Podcast on Libraries)
Links of the Week:
Interview: Diana Athill (The writer who made me look forward to getting old and embracing everything life sends our way has passed away after living for 101 years :) May she be in peace. Please read her book Somewhere Towards The End to appreciate her life's work)
One Breath Around the World Other Goose (what an amazing homeschooling tool) This artist sketched his way through Cambodia and Vietnam: Christoph Niemann The Lonely Act of Waiting, In Pictures