Weekly Edition #41
Art by Hang-Ryul Park
Before We Leave by Stephen Dunn
Just so it’s clear—
no whining on the journey.
If you whine, you’ll get stuck
somewhere with people
like yourself. It’s an unwritten law.
Wear hiking boots. Pack food
and a change of clothes.
We go slowly. Endurance won’t
be enough, though without it
you can’t get to the place
where more of you is asked.
Expect there will be times
when you’ll be afraid.
Hold hands and tremble together
if you must but remember
each of you is alone.
Where are we going?
It’s not an issue of here or there.
And if you ever feel you can’t
take another step imagine
how you might feel to arrive,
if not wiser, a little more aware
how to inhabit the middle ground
between misery and joy.
Trudge on. In the higher regions,
where the footing is unsure,
to trudge is to survive.
Happiness is another journey,
almost over before it starts,
guaranteed to disappoint.
If you’ve come for it, say so,
you’ll get your money back.
I hope you all realize that anytime
is a fine time to laugh. Fake it,
however, and false laughter
will accompany you like a cowbell
for the rest of your days.
You’ll forever lack the seriousness
of a clown. At some point
the rocks will be jagged,
the precipice sheer. That won’t be
the abyss you’ll see looking down.
The abyss, you’ll discover
(if you’ve made it this far),
is usually nearer than that—
at the bottom of something
you’ve yet to resolve,
or posing as your confidante.
Follow me. Don’t follow me. I will
say such things, and mean both.
Other poems I read this week:
"I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree."
-Trees by Joyce Kilmer
"Things will be different.
No one will lose their sight,
their hearing, their gallbladder.
It will be all Catskills with brand
new wrap-around verandas.
The idea of Hitler will not
have vibrated yet.
While back here,
they are still cleaning out
pockets of wrinkled
Nazis hiding in Argentina.
But in the next galaxy,
certain planets will have true
blue skies and drinking water."
-In The Next Galaxy by Ruth Stone
"You are earth and death.
Your season is darkness
and silence. No living
thing is more remote
than you from the dawn.
When you appear to wake
you are only sorrow,
it is in your eyes and in your blood
but you do not feel it. You live
like a stone lives,
like the hard earth.
And you are dressed in dreams
in shuddering movements
that you ignore. Sorrow
like the waters of a lake
quivers and surrounds you.
There are rings on the water.
You let them disappear.
You are earth and death." -One Poem by Cesare Pavese (Translated by Isabel Wall)
"I am saying primroses lined the pathway of toothless hedges.
I am saying the ocean shimmered like corrugated steel in the
morning sun.
The context of my story changes when you enter. Then I am dung
on the wall of the nomad’ s field. Then the everyday waking person.
I am nodding in your direction like fissures between dandelion fur.
Seeing in your manner.
I am speaking your pace. Slippage of silk slippers.
I say you are losing sight. I say your breasts are dry shells.
I am afraid of what I am capable of doing.
This is all a manner of stating how I prepare myself to be loved. " -In the Event of Change by Tsering Wangmo Dhompa
Recommended Listening:
The coolest concert ever using ice instruments
Patience - Tame Impala Nervous - Current Joys Kevin Morby NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Links of the Week:
Travel to the Galápagos With a Watercolor Artist Watch: One Planet (Stop everything you're doing and watch this incredible series on Netflix) Support Wildlife Rescues in India Green Humour Comics Oliver Sacks: The Healing Power of Gardens In Bed With...Kiran Rao (I'll be doing many more such rapid fire interviews for my new favorite bedding brand Himeya. Go check out their gorgeous collection for your home!) #NaPoWriMo: 10 poets from India who are embracing (and excelling at) National Poetry Writing Month (I've almost completed writing 30 poems for the challenge too!)
GIF by Paper Owl Films
I'm sorry about not sending the newsletter from Borneo last week, as promised. The orangutans in the wilderness and sharks I was snorkelling with were too distracting :)
"The secret of life, of a happy life, is: leave a little space open for poetry..."
-Massimo Bottura