For those of you who remember Rocky and Bullwinkle, you may remember that greeting from the Moose: “Greetings, Poetry Lovers!” It was meant to carry a lot of irony (as did the whole show), but I have loved that line ever since I was a kid. Now that I’m retired, I love it even more.
One of the
joys of retirement is that I not only have more time to write poetry, I have
more time to READ poetry! Which, of course, helps writing immensely! Especially
reading one volume by an author from start to finish. In the last part of July and the first part of
August, I read these works:
“Straight Out
of View” by Joyce Sutphen
“Between Us”,
by Margaret Hasse
“I” by Toi
Derricotte (still working on that big one!)
The past
week or so, I’ve been reading:
“What Falls
Away is Always” by Richard Terrill
“Idanre and
Other Poems” by Wole Soyinka
“The
Essential Rumi” by Rumi (still working on that one, too!)
I didn’t
set out to read all women writers at first, nor switch to all men writers
later. I just picked up their books—either
because I saw it on my shelf (we’re trying to declutter and organize—still working
on that one, too!) or because their book came out, or because I found their
book in one of the many little free libraries I pass on my daily walks.
Each of
these poets has their own style, of course, but each touches on one part of
poetry that is essential: mystery. I won’t
try to explain each of their approaches, only to say that each of them take
delight in words, take delight in putting them together, and take delight in
the mysterious communication between solitary writer and unknown reader. So I commend them all to you.
For those
of you who are struggling with writing during this pandemic—or any other times—I
leave these words of wisdom from Rumi:
“This is how
it always is
when I
finish a poem.
A great
silence overcomes me,
and I
wonder why I ever thought
to use
language.”
Be beauty.
Be justice. Be poetry. Be silence.
Patrick
