People love many things. I love coffee! I love chocolate! I love those red galoshes! A friend's mama used to say "You love people; you like things," and I think she's mostly right, with the exception of poetry. If we go around stating we love every little thing, the word itself begins to lose meaning. How do we differentiate between like-love and love-love? With poetry, we don't have to. Reading poetry is a relationship. No matter your age, you can fall in love with poetry for the first time or all over again. Without any financial strain, you can pick up a book of poems at your local library or simply search the Internet. Poems are out there free for the taking (but not always for distributing; check the copyright!). In honor of this glorious summer - I have no doubt that this summer will be all that you've dreamed of and more - let's go out on a date with a poem.
Today let's go out with "the earth is a living thing" from The Book of Light by Lucille Clifton (Copper Canyon Press, 1993). This is a powerful poem and reminds us that the earth is indeed a living thing, full of bears and oceans, hawks and fish. Beauty and wonder, but also life and death. The earth is also full of bones and rocks, hard things. Its a poem that reminds us of joy and sorrow. The last stanza reads:
is a black and living thing
is a favorite child
of the universe
feel her rolling her hand
in its kinky hair
feel her brushing it clean
Of course, there is an ethnic and cultural element to this poem that is valid and necessary to consider, as is Clifton's body of work as a whole. But for now, I think it is enough to appreciate the vastness that is being presented here. The earth is complex. It holds all these things, good and bad. An earth that brings life also brings death. And earth that holds love also holds hate. It's frightening and inspiring, and is the type of poem that can stop you in your tracks and re-evaluate the way you view the world. A poem that can accomplish this is a poem you'll be naming your kids with on the first date.
Today let's go out with "the earth is a living thing" from The Book of Light by Lucille Clifton (Copper Canyon Press, 1993). This is a powerful poem and reminds us that the earth is indeed a living thing, full of bears and oceans, hawks and fish. Beauty and wonder, but also life and death. The earth is also full of bones and rocks, hard things. Its a poem that reminds us of joy and sorrow. The last stanza reads:
is a black and living thing
is a favorite child
of the universe
feel her rolling her hand
in its kinky hair
feel her brushing it clean
Of course, there is an ethnic and cultural element to this poem that is valid and necessary to consider, as is Clifton's body of work as a whole. But for now, I think it is enough to appreciate the vastness that is being presented here. The earth is complex. It holds all these things, good and bad. An earth that brings life also brings death. And earth that holds love also holds hate. It's frightening and inspiring, and is the type of poem that can stop you in your tracks and re-evaluate the way you view the world. A poem that can accomplish this is a poem you'll be naming your kids with on the first date.
