Poetic Summary

To continue my reflections on the past year, and my movement into the new one, I'm following the suggestion of a friend to write a lune. [The lune (rhymes with moon) is a very short poem, similar to the haiku. The difference is the haiku has a 5/7/5 syllable pattern while the lune has a 5/3/5 syllable pattern.]

Role change emerges
in manner 
heretofore unformed.

I enjoyed playing with this previously unknown format. Several attempts, lots of taps on table and knee, thesaurus checking ~ all entertained me as I worked with it. Meditation, daydreaming and memory-play each shared a place in the recollection of the past year. Various focal points surfaced. The one that endured through every iteration of the lune was role change.

My role continues to change. Things shift slightly, then slightly more, then a new role blossoms and it continues to open into something as yet undefined. Perhaps undefinable. I marvel at its movement.

Have you attempted to summarize an entire year in 13 syllables? or 19, for that matter? What would happen if you tried? What word or phrase arises within you when you reflect on the past year? or the past season/three months? Does the word or phrase change you? How do you define yourself when you recognize it?

Outracing Loneliness

I love poetry. Some poets touch my heart more deeply than others.... or maybe it's just the timing of reading the poem. I've been focused lately on the concepts of aloneness and loneliness and solitude. Naomi Shihab Nye magnificently captures that sense of loneliness stalking you or surrounding you as you travel through the day. With a passing comment from an unnamed, unknown roller-skater, a new thought emerges: What if you could outrace loneliness? What if there was a way to skate or pedal or ski or run fast enough to leave it in the dust? Then what? Your own personal loneliness gets left in the dust ~ "panting behind you on some street corner" ~ while you have the incredible opportunity to "float free" of it.

When loneliness hits me most closely, I want to remember this poem ~ to feel/sense/taste/see loneliness falling behind ~ as I move as quickly as I can, in whatever way I can, in the direction of freedom. I can outrace that sense of loss that permeates the word loneliness. It has no real power over me unless I choose to hand it over.

Do you feel lonely? How does it affect you? Can you imagine a way to outrace it? Practice that the next time it tries to disturb your peace!

Married to Amazement

Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets. Her imagery and word choice are vibrant. This snippet from her poem When Death Comes leaves me breathless. Consider the timing ~ as death is coming ~ and the image of a bride and bridegroom. Not concepts we generally put together. Yet Mary Oliver does. Wow.



I love what follows as well:

When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

As I continue through this season and into the year, what courses through my system, finding the rhythm of my heartbeat is that final line: I don't want to end up simply having visited this world. I can easily say that we all want to DO something with our lives, but this one is personal. It sticks to me like salt after a dip in the ocean, like garlic on my fingers after making pizza, like the song that keeps playing in my head. It's not important if I'm visible to others, if I am known for anything in particular. Sometimes I want those things, knowing they fade all too quickly. What is important is to have cherished and relished and lived as many moments in this life as I can. What is important is to be present, and to be awake and aware.

What line from a poem, book, speech, or your best friend touches your soul right now?