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Make a Life, If Not a Living
L.L. here with Random Acts of Poetry— remembering a sweet student who asked me an important question. I'd just finished addressing the chapel at Geneva College and had included poetry in the talk.
This drew the poets and "creatives" to find me afterward. Many simply thanked me for making a place for poetry in between words about Ash Wednesday, dust, Peter and Judas. But one special young woman ventured an important question: do you think I can make a living as a poet?
I wanted to say yes. I wished that the world would pay her for poetry, the kind of pay that would put bread on her table and irises in a crystal vase. Instead I said, "Let me tell you a story." And I shared about William Carlos Williams. "He's one of America's most famous poets. His first book of poetry sold four copies." I lowered my voice and finished, "He was a doctor."
Williams chose a career that would put bread on the table, but he infused that living with the life of poetry. It was not unusual for him to scribble a poem on his prescription pad. He wrote and wrote and wrote poetry. He made a life of it, even though he couldn't make a living at it.
"I think you should always keep poetry in your life," I told the young woman. "Poetry is a life thing." And maybe, in some unexpected way, it even helps us make a living.
This week I found life in a poem from new HCB member Kathleen Overby. I'm especially pleased with this poem for two reasons— first, because it started as comment I found in a comment box; I gingerly suggested to Kathleen that she might mold the comment into a poem, which she did. Second, Kathleen's poem grew from a memory of her grandmother's gate... and that grew from seeing Kelly's photo, which I'd featured. Life spurring life.
Here is my favorite part...
Grandma's garden gate
had curls on top
loops of a keyhole
to peer through
beyond it
the belle of roses
tangled and twisted
in the muscled trunk
and strong arms of
wisteria...
Continuing with the flower theme, here's an excerpt I liked from nAncY's poem about dogwood blossoms...
pressed
between pages of white
each one a poem
the words rise
with the wind
Gate photo by Kelly Langner Sauer. Used with permission. Post by L.L. Barkat.
All RAP Participants
Maureen’s Passing Time in Lent
Ann’s Do Not Let Anything Keep You
Kathleen’s Through the Keyhole
LL's Flight and Pittsburgh
nAncY's Pages of White
Glynn's There Was a Barn Raising, Once
Erica's After
Debbra's Lent's Call to Worship
Karanee's Undiscovered Way
Milton's Lent and Late Night
Erin's Draw Me In
Cindy's Hijack
Tim's Haiku of Moving Snow
Curator's (LL and Claire's) Verse
Monica's Clouds Break
Smileyange's Concrete Nautilus
New at HCB: PhotoPlay
Please welcome Claire Burge as our new Photo Editor at HCB. Claire will be hosting occasional photography projects and providing prompts, much the way I've given poetry prompts in the past. Here's her first...
Sometimes life urges us to test boundaries, break rules and redefine. In photography, bad photos can teach us about good photos. Overexposure can give light to a subject that needs center stage. Underexposure can dull away detail that would distract from the primary subject. Join the fun and break some rules this week. Take a photograph to illustrate what it means to test a boundary in your life; if you like, pair it with a brief description. Drop your link in my comment box by Wednesday, March 3, so I don't miss you.
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