Comments on: Uncommon Words for a Sister’s Heavy Heart

By: Dawn

Dawn — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:57:46 +0000

“Your Catfish Friend” brought tears to my eyes.. I guess just what I needed to hear. Going to look for a pond right now ;)

By: Laela

Laela — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:42:35 +0000

May the long time sun
Shine upon you,
All love surround you,
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:30:10 +0000

Lovely how a book of thoughts, ideas, and poems could be called, “commonplace.” I have mine, started in adolescence, never knowing it had a name, either. This is such a beautiful conversation, and I’ll add the lines I was struggling to remember at the mirror this morning, after a strange dream of going back in time. (And who among us isn’t a little fascinated with Ondaatje now?)

HOLIDAYS

The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart,
When the full river of feeling overflows;—
The happy days unclouded to their close;
The sudden joys that out of darkness start
As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart
Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!
White as the gleam of a receding sail,
White as a cloud that floats and fades in air,
White as the whitest lily on a stream,
These tender memories are;—a Fairy Tale
Of some enchanted land we know not where,
But lovely as a landscape in a dream.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

By: Laela

Laela — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:14:48 +0000

When the Day came –
The Day I had lived and died for –
The Day that is not in any calendar –
Clouds heavy with love
Showered me with wild abundance.
Inside me, my soul was drenched.
Around me, even the desert grew green.

– Kabir

By: ~Mad(elyn) in Alabama

~Mad(elyn) in Alabama — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:16:28 +0000

Okay, so I am now copying all of the above-mentioned poems into my journal, which, until today, I did not know was commonplace!

How wonderful!
Thanks, ladies.

~Mad(elyn)

By: Paige

Paige — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:12:24 +0000

Monika–Thanks for the Ondaatje gossip, and the reminder to order Petina’s book!
Chloe, aka my Mom–thanks for chiming in and setting the history straight.
Rona–I adore this article. There’s a wonderful Mary Oliver quote in it (actually, there are many of them) but I wanted to share this one here:
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
Ah, poetry. It is a blessing.

By: Rona Maynard

Rona Maynard — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:58:17 +0000

Thank you, Nicie, for the link about online poetry notebooks. For all you Mary Oliver fans, here’s another link, to a lovely New York Times piece about visiting her haunts around Provincetown, which have inspired her for decades. http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/travel/05oliver.html?8dpc

By: Chloe

Chloe — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:11:42 +0000

Well, not always Emily Dickenson. I remember going to the book section of a Goodwill store with you one morning on an outing where we bought a volume of Edna St Vincent Milay’s poetry and a very old “Original Mother Goose” so I could read something different and you might have a new source of inspiration. It didn’t last long – Milay’s poems were not appropriate for young ears and I am still shocked at the violence in the original “Mother Goose”.

By: monika

monika — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:36:02 +0000

Jaroslav Seifert (sorry about the typo!) won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1984, and if I am not mistaken, Autobiography is one of the poems he submitted for the acceptance speech (which he was too ill to make, and so was spoken on his behalf by his daughter).

Last night, my friend Petina regaled me with stories of her recent encounter with Michael Ondaatje, my favourite writer, living or dead. He flirted and hugged and kissed… (I am green with envy).

By: paige

paige — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:00:05 +0000

Monika–I forgot to say that I love those poems, and knew neither. The Ondaatje in particular is so evocative and sexy–just a gorgeous and transportive (is that a word??) poem.

Lee–thanks for coming by. Now if I could get you to share some of YOUR poetry….xx

Deb–Thank you for sharing Ken Sehested’s work–otherwise unknown to me. I particularly love “may your heroes be earthy”–a great reminder to value substance over shine.

Nicie–Everyone, meet the treasured matron of honor :-) who knows more about poetry and poets than anyone I know. Poets. org is an incredible site, and I encourage all of you who love this most magical use of language to visit there!