Poetry Friday's party today is hosted by Carol Varsalon at Beyond Literacy Link. Carol shares a poetic 'memo' to Mother Earth today and offers all of us a poetry bouquet (changing from bouquet, now it's truly an entire flower shop!) of entries for her #naturenurtures gallery. Thanks, Carol!
We are meeting and working hard planning to re-open the used bookstore where I have been volunteering. It will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary! Once upon a time, there was a part-time paid manager but in the past few years, this non-profit is entirely run by volunteers. As I said, we're working hard and without the special rewards of helping customers and talking with them about books! But soon, we're going try to open again as safely for all concerned as possible. This entails lists, some meetings, individually working at the store itself, going through donations, choosing books to sell online (we only do some), pulling books to pass on to make room for new ones. It's a lot of work, but I and those others with me love the store. I have only been there for a few years since I retired from teaching, but others have been there literally for years and years.
This poem was sent to me and to other workers by one of our leaders as a thank you for these recent weeks, for getting ready! I'm sure every one of you has a list of workers to thank, too, as I do: those on the front lines--medical personnel, grocery workers, transit & delivery drivers, those who are in charge of cleaning, the police and firefighters; the teachers finishing a year they won't forget, and those small business owners preparing some kind of open, all worried about safety and their businesses. It is thoughtful to consider the work and to say thank you.
Here's the beginning of the poem.
To be of use
BY MARGE PIERCY
The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
and the rest can be found HERE!