Thursday, April 2, 2009

Because bread alone is not enough


We attended a dinner party last night. And because bread alone is not enough, we brought....poetry.

I really did bring a loaf of sourdough bread that I baked in the afternoon, but my husband and I both felt like it was a great idea to give something that would last. Plus, it was the first day of National Poetry month, and what better way to kick that off. Our Argentine hosts appreciated the gesture and the significance, and we had some lovely conversations last night.


Here is a poem that's been wandering around in my head lately. It's from Linda Pastan's recent collection Queen of a Rainy Country, which is filled with poems as rich as this one.



Rereading Frost

Sometimes I think all the best poems 
have been written already,
and no one has time to read them,
so why try to write more?

At other times though,
I remember how one flower
in a meadow already full of flowers
somehow adds to the general fireworks effect

as you get to the top of a hill
in Colorado, say, in high summer
and just look down at all that brimming color.
I also try to convince myself

that the smallest note of the smallest
instrument in the band,
the triangle, for instance,
is important to the conductor

who stands there, pointing his finger
in the direction of the percussions,
demanding that one silvery ping.
And I decide not to stop trying,

at least not for a while, though in truth
I'd rather just sit here reading 
how someone else has been acquainted
with the night already, and perfectly.

Linda Pastan


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4 comments:

WendyB said...

Hi Kirie! I would be thrilled for you to do a post and you are welcome to use the photos. My only caveat is that this is a silver prototype for a gold piece that will be available later this year. So the silver whistle isn't available for purchase but the little Woolf is :)

Cheryl said...

Oh, thank you Kirie! Support and best wishes is always, always appreciated. I'd planned to get my Disney portfolio ready today (my lifelong dream! breathe...breathe...) and three hours later I still haven't gotten started so I was so grateful to see your comment.
Dinner parties and poetry! Awesome.

Hannah Stephenson said...

This poem is wonderful and so uplifting! I completely agree with her.

Glenda said...

I, too, feel sometimes that all the poetry we need has already been written by wonderful poets long one and some still here, but my words can't compare so I'd rather read Frost than thry to write.

 
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