Thursday, June 7, 2012

Endings Make Me Grateful


Poetry Friday today is hosted today by the foodie princess, Jama Rattigan at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.  Thank you Jama!  

           In the middle of May, Your Daily Poem shared a poem by a poet new to me, Barbara Crooker, who has published numerous poems and books, gives workshops and readings.  Many speak of the importance of being thankful for the little things, and there is even a meme titled Thankful Thursday, a way for bloggers to post about those parts of their lives for which they give thanks. 
Barbara’s poem is titled Gratitude and it touched me with its clear message, right here, right now in the late spring into summertime. No matter how many times I read about others’ thankfulness, I am grateful for their words and say a silent thank you for the reminder to me. 
And, here at the end of my school year, it is especially appropriate to say my thanks for the wonderful colleagues I have, for the school where I can practice what I preach-to be kind to children and let them learn. 

The poem begins

This week, the news of the world is bleak, another war
grinding on, and all these friends down with cancer,
or worse, a little something long term that they won’t die of
for twenty or thirty miserable years—

and the rest is found here.


photo credit: shannonkringen via photo pin cc

12 comments:

  1. What a wonderful poem...so many reminders to be thankful for ordinary things it's so easy to take for granted. I loved these lines:

    "The whole world
    sings, gleams, as if it were basted in butter, and the air’s
    sweet enough to send a diabetic into shock—"

    Barbara Crooker and Linda Pastan are two poets I love who write often and well about my kind of world.

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  2. Beautiful, Linda. Really breathtaking. Thank you!

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  3. Ooh, thanks for sharing this, Linda - so beautiful!

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  4. Love this. Especially these last lines.

    "And the trees breathe in what we exhale, clap their green hands
    in gratitude, bend to the sky."

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  5. Barbara is definitely one of my favorites. I've shared several of her poems at Alphabet Soup, and she was a Potluck guest last year with her gluten free Chocolate Shortbread.

    "Gratitude" brims with beautiful images and choice diction. The clear bowl of sky, sigh.

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  6. What a great piece of writing! I was thinking little grim thoughts this morning a bit, thinking of how I don't have control of the world. But then I decided that most of it doesn't affect me directly today, so chose to be happy in spite of all the bad new blues! Kind of like this poem for today! Thank you so much for sharing it. I am joining the trees in their applause.

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  7. "I’m riffing
    on the warm air, the wingbeats of my lungs that can take this all in,
    flush the heart’s red peony, then send it back without effort or thought."

    Lovely!

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  8. I have not heard of this poet, Linda...so, thank you. I love all the layers of gratitude, loss, and solace.

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  9. This is gorgeous Linda! Such a beautiful reminder! Thanks so much for this Friday gift!

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  10. "Know sorrow’s somewhere beyond the horizon" struck me. Isn't that always so true, yet we forget sometimes that it is full for others when it is far from us. Love this poem, have read it several times since you posted it as I am leaving it open for a little while. It is a wonderful time for reminders and to be grateful.

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  11. Yes, we MUST remember to welcome every day with gratitude!

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  12. Hi Linda, once again, this is a powerful message - oft taken for granted, ignored, and little valued. Thank you for this gift of appreciation and just finding something to be thankful for each day. What a blessing on a Sunday. I'm a little behind in my comments and blog-viewing as I've been traveling and still horribly jetlagged as of now. Experiencing the searing heat and the sandy air here in Las Vegas, but immensely grateful to be with family and a safe flight.

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