If I Were
There are lots of ways to dance and
to spin, sometimes it just starts my
feet first then my entire body, I am
spinning no one can see it but it is
happening. I am so glad to be alive
and in love and loved. Even if I were
to be separated from love, even if
I were at my final breath, I am here
to take a stand, bereft of such astonish-
ments, but for them.
If I were a Sufi for sure I would be
one of the spinning kind.
- Mary Oliver (recently published in Parabola magazine)
Me too, Mary, me too.
Grace us with a poem today, won't you, either linked below or in the comments.
MFB, as autumn turns toward dusk,
L
5 comments:
+JMJ+
I can relate to this poem. There are times when I feel very vital and very alive . . . but no one would know it from looking at me at that moment. Like actual spinning, it's a force that comes from the very centre.
Blogging has been slow at my own corner, but I managed a poem last week, so I'm linking up. =)
Yay! I'm so happy to "see" you again, E! Heading over to your blog to check out your latest brilliant offering.
The Magic Carpet - Billy Ramsell
Because I am the greatest in his realm
your husband sent for me, left me alone with you in the inner palace
where, on pain of death, no man may tread.
My commission was to render your face
in silks and thread of gold, the most delicate of textiles.
Of course the inevitable happened (for the rumours
of your beauty weren’t greatly exaggerated) and I set out to make your portrait
unfinishable. Every night I heard the women and eunuchs murmur
in the corridors: “Hush, hush, the master is working!”
when every night my work was withering,
stitch by ripped stitch, in my own hands. How long can I explain the delay,
my doings and undoings, this penelopian dithering?
Your face shimmers on the floor beneath me.
I cannot insert the final threads of vermilion, jade and blue
for fear that we have lift off before I can even step aside
and it carries me away from you.
Wowee: That's a stunner, PL!
Forgive my American exhuberance, but I simply must gush. And I will be sharing this with my students for its nods to oh so many seminal stories...
Hey Laurie,
Just checking in to see how your school year is going? Mine is good so far, I have a nice set of mostly mellow 9th graders. Of course I am busy as heck and have little time to blog. Grades are due Monday and so plan to grade all weekend. Lovely poem. Have a great week.
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