Grief is the seed of singing…

17 Oct 2019 Leave a comment

by jeannepoland in Grief is the seed of singing, Poetry Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JN992 Kingdom of God Like Mustart Seed

An acrylic painting on wood illustrating the bible verse in Mark 4 describing the kingdom of God like a mustard seed. Jesus is seated with a child under the yellow-leafed branches of a tree showing her a tiny mustard seed.

Citizen of Dark Times


by Kim Stafford

 

Agenda in a time of fear:

Be not afraid.


When things go wrong, do right.


Set out by the half-light of the seeker.


For the well-lit problem begins to heal.

Learn tropism toward the difficult.


We have not arrived to explain, but to sing.


Young idealism ripens into an ethical life.


 Prune back regret to let faith grow.

When you hit rock bottom, dig farther down. 


Grief is the seed of singing,

shame the seed of song.


Keep seeing what you are not saying.


Plunder your reticence.

Songbird guards a twig,

its only weapon a song.

Be your enemy’s champion

01 Oct 2019 Leave a comment

by jeannepoland in Be your enemy's champion, Poetry Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Meredith'sProfilePic

Champion the Enemy’s Need
by Kim Stafford

Ask about your enemy’s wounds and scars.
Seek his hidden cause of trouble.
Feed your enemy’s children.
Learn their word for home.
Repair their well.
Learn their sorrow’s history.
Trace their lineage of the good.
Ask them for a song.
Make tea. Break bread.

 

about William Timothy O’Brian:

 

O’Brien’s most famous book, a collection of linked short stories about the war, is The Things They Carried (1990). The stories blur the line between fiction and memoir; they feature a character named “Tim O’Brien” — but O’Brien the author insists it’s a work of fiction. He wrote: “I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.” The Things They Carried was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
From The Things They Carried (1990):
War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.