Sunday, January 3, 2010

Naming the Day




I wonder in which season
I will die.
One is as fitting as the next,
as unthinkable.


This is what I think of
in the clean cold start
of the new year, the last
of the first
decade of a new
old millennium.


The year, the earth, are always
beginning and ending, as the days
spin ever faster
and time is the umbrella
that keeps the stars
from falling willy-nilly.






 Every year goes
the way of candle flame.
Every day, every life—begging
the question,
When the flame is blown out,
where does the light go?


Still the candle of my clay heart kindles,
this clean quiet is alive,
and everything that circles
is also still.




I feast on deepest hungers,
sweet white stars, the flesh of words
in the glowing season,
now fulfilled
and purged.


Naming this day as the beginning,
I choose to say I give
this year to quiet love. I will
down more starry water,
spill less
anger.




I wake asking
Where are the gifts I gave you,
where are your gifts to me?
I cannot hold them.
I cannot hold the answers.


All I can say is one day
not far from the present
when winter begins
to dream
its death


as the carnival parade keeps dreaming
an unthinkable trip up the skull


I recognize my birth,
inherit a new age,
blow out the candles.





34 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful! Something to read again and again and get something new each time.

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  2. "Naming this day as the beginning,
    I choose to say I give
    this year to quiet love."

    This verse flooded me with a feeling of peace and calm.

    I felt a dreamy feeling rush over me as I read this beautiful poem. Is it your birthday?

    This echoes a part of me I rarely share, that I consider death as much as I consider life. It seems the more I enjoy this life the more I consider when I might leave it. I hold this piece of myself within my most private and inner place. I suppose this poem has brought out a piece of me I had not considered sharing before. A testament to the power of words and talent that resides within you.

    I am never surprised by the ability your work has to draw out ones inner most places.

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  3. Happy Birthday! This is a time for introspection. You're the third blog post to have poetry on this subject on my short list of blogs (Original Art, Shaping Words).

    Wonderful, moving poem. I especially like:

    "I choose to say I give
    this year to quiet love. I will
    down more starry water,
    spill less
    anger."

    Thank you.

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  4. It is your birthday...dang it. I wasn't sure it looks like Eliana's cake. Thanks to Dan. He is much more perceptive and smarter than I am.

    "I recognize my birth,
    inherit a new age,
    blow out the candles."

    I mean HELLO...good grief.

    Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Susan, Happy Birthday to you!

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  5. No, no - it's not my birthday. That's what I get for being too cryptic. And Jennifer - that was Eliana's cake. So you are perceptive and smarter than you sometimes give yourself credit for!

    I wanted everything in this poem to have the voice in present tense, which is why it SEEMS like it's my birthday at the end.

    But the lines "when winter begins to dream its death, as the carnival parade, etc." refer to the end of February, when my birthday either falls during Mardi Gras festivities (don't forget I used to live in Louisiana) or in Lent, depending on the year.

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  6. But thank you for the birthday wishes anyway! I'll take 'em.

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  7. Jenny - thank you! I'm glad you feel that way about it.

    Jennifer - I just finished the book Anam Cara, and his last chapter was about Death, which influenced this poem. He talks about our need to befriend our deaths before they arise, that this is an important part of living an awakened life.

    Thank you for your words of appreciation. It's really wonderful to hear that my words can have such effect.

    Dan - I'm constantly amazed by the interlacing and synchronicity that occur in blogging. That's the thing that makes it most rewarding to me. And sometimes frustrating, as I want to have more long conversations than I have time for!

    I'm glad you like those lines. I went through several words before I finally landed on "starry."

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  8. I use to live in Pensacola, FL Susan. I thoroughly enjoyed Mardi Gras and even went to Mobile, AL for some parades and festivity.

    Do you do anything for Mardi Gras? I miss King's Cake.

    I love it all just the same. I love it, love it! : ) Big smiles!

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  9. Dear Pollinatrix,
    Surely it is your birthday, and happy birthday to you! I love your poem (I assume it's your poem since there is no other author noted, and you are always careful to give credit).

    You have such a gift of words. I like the poem in its totality; it captures the feelings of an intelligent woman who is not young and frivolous, who has the second half of her life before her. No time to waste, death apparent at some point in the future. But time for more more meaning to be created. You have many wonderful turns of phrase, but I think my favorite part is the heart of it (in my reading),

    Still the candle of my clay heart kindles,

    this clean quiet is alive,

    and everything that circles

    is also still.

    I feast on deepest hungers,

    sweet white stars, the flesh of words

    in the glowing season,

    now fulfilled

    and purged.


    And my favorite line here is, "the flesh of words." It speaks to me.

    Thank you for sharing this. Best wishes to you on your birthday, and thank you for all your wonderful contributions to my own thoughts and flesh of words. I have so enjoyed reading your writing and look forward to hearing more from you.

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  10. How many books do you read at a given time?

    I cannot keep up with all the books. I try to keep up and keep a list. Could you make a list for us and post it on the blog somewhere? Is it in your Shelfari? All your books, all your recommendations...please place them in the Shelfari!


    I have to tell you this...my word verification right now is: burlipl.

    This just needs to enter into the English language somehow.

    Who is being random now?

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  11. Jennifer- When I lived in Las Vegas, New Mexico, I had an annual Mardi Gras party that whole families came to.

    I'd buy a bunch of plaster of paris strips, feathers, paints, etc. and we'd all make masks on each other.

    At midnight, we'd all grab pots and pans and wooden spoons and go clanging our way on parade to the neighborhood park. I'm surprised no one ever called the police.

    I really miss those parties.

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  12. Dreamfarm Girl - Thank you so much. You're such an articulate commenter! I love the way you've interpreted my poem; it contributes to my own perspective on it.

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  13. Jennifer - I'll work on the Shelfari at some point soon. And I'll email you tomorrow about what I've been reading.

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  14. Oh - and yes - burlipl definitely needs a dictionary entry. Any thoughts about what it might mean? Anyone?

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  15. what a glorious meditation/declaration!!! i, of course, have claimed this line as my own:

    "I will
    down more starry water..." so LOVE - ly!!

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  16. I love this Mardi Gras party! This is something we might just have to adopt for this year. My daughter would love it! She loves to be LOUD!

    I appreciate this post and comments today. I needed it for many reasons and the humor, the humor has been wonderful, I needed the humor of it all.

    I am at a loss defining burlipl, frankly I just like saying it.

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  17. It sounds like a light-hearted Yiddish insult to me.

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  18. Lucy - Thanks! Wow, I feel like there's a party going on here. Everybody's out and about at once. Woo hoo!!

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  19. And Lucy - I should tell you that your recent post definitely influenced this poem. Thank you!

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  20. You have called it spot on. Burlipl is a light hearted Yiddish insult!!

    I even googled to see what I could find and the Gantseh Megillah Yiddish Glossary does not include burlipl. Nor does it reflect anything moderately close to this fantastic word and definition. Unfortunately it has not caught on.

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  21. I think it must be used to describe (and light-heartedly insult) someone who is acting giddy with silliness.

    Much as we are right now.

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  22. so glad to add the inspiration and yes, it's definitely a party going on! much more festive than even new year's eve (at least mine :-)

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  23. Mine too. I'm not a big fan of New Year's Eve. It seems so contrived. We spent forty-five minutes driving up to the Taos Ski Valley to see fireworks that lasted for twenty minutes. I was much happier when we returned home and spent the rest of the evening eating cookies and watching The Fisher King.

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  24. That was very lovely and thank you. Although the very first phrase got me thinking about death throughout the whole thing, but that's just my brain hijacking nice experiences for me once again.

    I will read it again.

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  25. Thanks Kate. I'd like to get to the point where I can think of death as a nice experience. That's partly why I wrote this poem.

    It's kind of funny that so many people thought it's my birthday because of this poem, when actually it's yours. I'll just forward all the birthday wishes to you. And to my beloved, whose birthday is on the 7th.

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  26. I do not know why I feel competitive about your blog in that, I want to be among the first to see your posts and feel irritated I wasn't. Go figure.

    Wouldn't I read the same thing even if I was the eighty second person to do so?

    My favorite psalm: "So teach us to number our days that we my apply our hearts unto wisdom." (Psalm 90:12) so I was excited that this was your subject.

    "All I can say is one day

    not far from the present

    when winter begins

    to dream

    its death"... beautiful!

    Wanted to tell you I've decided to learn Latin this year and have found a great site that you can read the KJV in both Enlish and Latin.

    Also, I've looked at the sweet pictures of your family and Christmas many times- you are such a good mother.

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  27. Oh EC, you don't know how much I needed to hear the good mother compliment just now. I've had such a crappy day and feel like a piece of dog poop right now, both physically and emotionally.

    I love that you're learning Latin. You never fail to amaze me with your varied interests.

    I missed you during your absence, and even started to worry a wee bit. Now that I'm getting "closer" to people in the blogosphere I sometimes worry about them disappearing completely one day and never knowing where they went or if they're ok.

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  28. I hope you feel better than dog poop today and I assure you I am not blipling when I say this.

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  29. I do feel much better today, thanks. I'm going to email you that book list soon, I promise...

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  30. I've read this a few times now and I always see something different. This time I got caught up in "time is the umbrella that keeps the stars from falling". Amazing.

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  31. Thanks Tess. That's actually one of my favorite lines too, the kind that just came fluidly out of "nowhere."

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  32. Beautiful, haunting, a tad whimsical, pure, thought-provoking. Everything a poem should be. Heck, writing in general. I like it. Thanks for the spiritual pick-me-up.

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  33. Thanks! And you're welcome! Glad you found it to be such.

    I love your new photo.

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