CELEBRATING POETRY
I have believed in the power of poetry since I was a small child and my father and I played our "rhyming game" where we spoke to one another in metrical verse for hours on end. Later, in a writing workshop my teacher would compliment my "unexpected rhyme" and I thought of my by-then-estranged father with gratitude, because I knew our "game" had ingrained this in me. I devour poetry...it is constant...not a day passes without a poem breathing over my lips. When I struggle with the fiction I have been writing or an article due, M. comes up behind me and kisses my neck, saying, "Remember you are a poet--this extended form is harder for you." He isn't an artist or a writer, just a dreamer...and therefore, to me, is qualified to be right.
I didn't create a poem for this week's prompt...But I have had a week of poetry nonetheless. I want to revel in the gift reading the lines of others has given me lately. The flowering poetry manuscript in my mailbox from this talented woman has fed me creatively for days...then, today, to see my name and poetry suggestions connected on two different blogs made me feel like poetry can open doors...and reminds me I'm not the only one who feels the delicious weight of words on my tongue on any given day. So, in the honor of poetry lovers everywhere I offer verses by Ryokan, whose infectious joy for language and life has inflicted itself against my mind--and perhaps will yours...
How can I possibly sleep
this moonlit evening?
Come, my friends,
Let's sing and dance
All night long.
Stretched out,
Tipsy,
Under the vast sky:
splendid dreams
Beneath the cherry blossoms
Wild roses,
Plucked from fields,
Full of croaking frogs:
Float them in your wine
And enjoy every minute.
--Ryokan--
Poetry itself is a vast sky under which I cannot rest. Poems erupt in the splintering of every blossom, in every wild field's voice...find them, float them in yourself, imbibe and enjoy...
I have believed in the power of poetry since I was a small child and my father and I played our "rhyming game" where we spoke to one another in metrical verse for hours on end. Later, in a writing workshop my teacher would compliment my "unexpected rhyme" and I thought of my by-then-estranged father with gratitude, because I knew our "game" had ingrained this in me. I devour poetry...it is constant...not a day passes without a poem breathing over my lips. When I struggle with the fiction I have been writing or an article due, M. comes up behind me and kisses my neck, saying, "Remember you are a poet--this extended form is harder for you." He isn't an artist or a writer, just a dreamer...and therefore, to me, is qualified to be right.
I didn't create a poem for this week's prompt...But I have had a week of poetry nonetheless. I want to revel in the gift reading the lines of others has given me lately. The flowering poetry manuscript in my mailbox from this talented woman has fed me creatively for days...then, today, to see my name and poetry suggestions connected on two different blogs made me feel like poetry can open doors...and reminds me I'm not the only one who feels the delicious weight of words on my tongue on any given day. So, in the honor of poetry lovers everywhere I offer verses by Ryokan, whose infectious joy for language and life has inflicted itself against my mind--and perhaps will yours...
How can I possibly sleep
this moonlit evening?
Come, my friends,
Let's sing and dance
All night long.
Stretched out,
Tipsy,
Under the vast sky:
splendid dreams
Beneath the cherry blossoms
Wild roses,
Plucked from fields,
Full of croaking frogs:
Float them in your wine
And enjoy every minute.
--Ryokan--
Poetry itself is a vast sky under which I cannot rest. Poems erupt in the splintering of every blossom, in every wild field's voice...find them, float them in yourself, imbibe and enjoy...
posted by Left-handed Trees... at 11:31 AM
14 Comments:
What a happy, lovely, and gracious invitation! Aren't Poetry Thursdays the best?
Oooh, a new poet for me to check out - YAY! That poem is amazingly beautiful. I can picture it all unfolding in my mind.
Such beautiful sentiment about your love of, your life of poetry. I love the poem you posted, and I'm going to check out your links!
what a beautiful tribute to your life long love affair with poetry..the 'introduction' to the poem you posted, by the way is good, it's poetry it's self..I really enjoyed reading this..thanks..m
That's a great poem. I was feeling some of the same emotions myself just the other night, and this made me smile at the memory.
What a refreshing poem- and a nice commentary, too. Words to open the most stubborn doors now and then.
What a wonderful gift your father gave you. And that's a beautiful poem
words are so powerful. it seems they are more powerful when used so simply. Thanks for this post and sharing your inpriational self.
Very well said...or written! I believe that an affair with poetry is the most satisfying experience!
!
Yum....I'm there
:)
xxx darlene
I've really sort of "misplaced" poetry in recent years -- I used to read it so much more than I do now, but I was at the bookstore the other day picking out a few poetry books for an under-the-weather friend and it was wonderful to be "tasting poems" again, sampling little bites of this and that. I'll have to unearth some of my old faves. Thanks for sharing this one, it's lovely!
hey my kindred poetic spirit, i'm right there with you. tipsy, imbibing it all.
with love from another natural poet, unnatural novelist ;-)
x x x x x
Thank you again, for turning me onto another delicious poet.
Poetry is the language of life and can never be far from anyone who is alive and breathing. Saludos!
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