Friday, January 13, 2017

Fleeing to Poetry and ...



This weekend I'm determined to not be swept away by all the terrible stuff going down in our country. I'm fleeing, actually, to poetry and other ecstatic things.



I'm listening to the first of this intriguing series on the Poetry Foundation website called A Change of World.




I'm reading Emma Cline's novel The Girls. It's a bit creepy, but to be honest, I haven't been able to stick with a novel in months.

I'm also into this poem:

My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun - 
In Corners - till a Day 
The Owner passed - identified -
And carried Me away -

And now We roam in Sovreign Woods -
And now We hunt the Doe -
And every time I speak for Him
The Mountains straight reply -

And do I smile, such cordial light
Opon the Valley glow -
It is as a Vesuvian face
Had let it’s pleasure through -

And when at Night - Our good Day done -
I guard My Master’s Head -
’Tis better than the Eider Duck’s
Deep Pillow - to have shared -

To foe of His - I’m deadly foe -
None stir the second time -
On whom I lay a Yellow Eye -
Or an emphatic Thumb -

Though I than He - may longer live
He longer must - than I -
For I have but the power to kill,
Without - the power to die -

Emily Dickinson





and listening to this poem by Billy Collins which, whether you look at it as a seduction of Emily's mind or body, is terribly sexy and just sets a good tone or tune or --- (as Emily would do)




Readers, what are ya'll doing this weekend?

at

4 comments:

  1. Rebecca yourigJanuary 13, 2017 at 10:34 AM

    I am working desperately to try to make inroads into having some impact In the replacement of ACA, and be poised to battle the inevitable cuts to Medicaid that are soon coming. It's going to be a tremendous hardship on too many I know to the point where I think lives are threatened. I think those barely scraping by as is are going to disappear under new limNes drawn so I want them drawn as liberally as I can get them. Have made the tiniest impact but at least not hitting the brick wall our political advocates have. Goal is to change some balance in government power in 2 years. Have to start now and be directed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. livJanuary 13, 2017 at 12:12 PM

    I subscribe to "Spoken Verse" on Youtube. This is one of my favorite, Emily's poem. The voice of Billy Collins, or of Tom O'Bedlam mesmerize me almost as much as the poems. But it's a great channel and I think you led me there a few years ago, so thanks for that. I hope your flight leads you somewhere that sustains you this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ms. MoonJanuary 13, 2017 at 12:39 PM

    I swear- that poem and the reading of it are one of the sexiest things in the world.
    As to what I'm planning on doing this weekend- well, being as happy as possible. Why not?

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJanuary 13, 2017 at 5:12 PM

    I didn't expect the 2 poems to go full circle - it's as if Billy Collins wasn't making that afternoon up.
    This weekend I'm seeking rest.

    ReplyDelete