Wednesday, and A Poem

[nightdog_barks]

Well. Apparently the sun came up this morning, although it's pretty grey out, and cool. It's 58 degrees, which is 14.4 C.

Drinking coffee and ... not much else right at the moment. My new issue of Poetry came yesterday, so have a poem by the American writer Robert Bly.



Living at the End of Time


There is so much sweetness in children's voices,
And so much discontent at the end of day,
And so much satisfaction when a train goes by.

I don't know why the rooster keeps crying,
Nor why elephants keep raising their trunks,
Nor why Hawthorne kept hearing trains at night.

A handsome child is a gift from God,
And a friend is a vein in the back of the hand,
And a wound is an inheritance from the wind.

Some say we are living at the end of time,
But I believe a thousand pagan ministers
Will arrive tomorrow to baptize the wind.

There's nothing we need to do about John. The Baptist
Has been laying his hands on earth for so long
That the well water is sweet for a hundred miles.

It's all right if we don't know what the rooster
Is saying in the middle of the night, nor why we feel
So much satisfaction when a train goes by.


~ Robert Bly
From Poetry, February 2010 issue

Comments

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

And a friend is a vein in the back of the hand... Oh, that's so lovely.

It's chilly and sunny today. I wore a dress to work because of the funeral going on next door and my legs and feet are cold without the insulating power of cotton slacks and wool socks.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Isn't that nice? Sometimes Poetry magazine has nothing but discordant crap in it, but some months they really come through. There's a couple of other poems in this issue I'll probably post.

Supposedly we're going to get rain and/or ice tomorrow evening. And cold legs are the worst! Is there a space heater you could move closer to your desk?

[zulu]

I like that. :)

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Me too! *g*

I participate in National Poetry Month every year (see the "poetry" tag on the left for my posts) so I try and keep an eye out for the good stuff.

How's your day been? Has it gone okay?

[zulu]

I've been trying to work on my papers. Not much success so far. But I had a nice birthday party for a friend here, which was fun. Emotionally, there've been ups and downs. *shrug* I haven't solved my problems, but sometimes all you can do is huddle up and hope they pass over. Friday will be good, when I've handed everything in.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

... sometimes all you can do is huddle up and hope they pass over.

Gods, ain't it the truth.

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

I've heard poetry described as the art of getting all the words right; this poem illustrates that perfectly. The first line in the fifth stanza really shows that - it wouldn't be as good without that bit of punctuation.

I'm very slowly beginning work on a pair of assignments due in a couple of weeks. They're both very straighforward, which should make them easy enough once I get momentum going.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Heh, isn't that a neat little punctuation trick? It's really interesting.