First Draft I sit made of burlap filled with sand an effigy of responsibility blue eyes like buttons twinkle with flat cheer mouth moving mechanically one hand neatly flat on the tabletop nodding saying The Right Things dying inside the other hand hidden below knows the truth clutching a sharp dagger waiting for the signal I … Continue reading burlap & sand
Art
forgiving our fathers
forgiving our fathers by dick lourie maybe in a dream: he's in your power you twist his arm but you're not sure it was he that stole your money you feel calmer and you decide to let him go free or he's the one (as in a dream of mine) I must pull from the … Continue reading forgiving our fathers
a woman who writes feels too much
THE BLACK ART Anne Sexton A woman who writes feels too much, those trances and portents! As if cycles and children and islands weren't enough; as if mourners and gossips and vegetables were never enough. She thinks she can warn the stars. A writer is essentially a spy. Dear love, I am that girl. A … Continue reading a woman who writes feels too much
the human race should write, and write, and write
Cacoethes Scribendi BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, SR. If all the trees in all the woods were men; And each and every blade of grass a pen; If every leaf on every shrub and tree Turned to a sheet of foolscap; every sea Were changed to ink, and all earth's living tribes Had nothing else to do … Continue reading the human race should write, and write, and write
the way it is
The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can’t get lost. Tragedies happen; people get hurt or … Continue reading the way it is
Wild Geese
"WILD GEESE" by Mary Oliver You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you … Continue reading Wild Geese
Death and dying
This morning my therapist mentioned to me that she had a really hard time this past week when, on top of everything else, Leonard Cohen died. I could see that her experience with this was akin to my experience when David Bowie and Robin Williams died. That is to say, it affected her deeply despite … Continue reading Death and dying
Rilke, from this morning’s therapy sesh
"GO TO THE LIMITS OF YOUR LONGING" BY RAINER MARIA RILKE translation by Joanna Macy + Anita Barrows God speaks to each of us as he makes us, then walks with us silently out of the night. These are the words we dimly hear: You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of … Continue reading Rilke, from this morning’s therapy sesh
Hole Not Whole
Wide open hole Gaping, bloody Not whole Try to push it closed Seal it, erase it Pull the edges close A body torn asunder A member missing The ache of phantom pain Wide open whole Healing, itching Hole
by the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea 