3 Haikus

I'm part of a lovely online spiritual "community of practice" called The Commons. It is the brainchild of Rev. Jim Keat and Rev. Cameron Trimble of Convergence. They both have many other projects and affiliations, but this is the one they have in common.

Rev. Jim lead a group the other day, and our time together ended writing 3 haikus, one about our life, one about our faith, and one about ourselves as individuals. They all need "some work" (especially number 3, though maybe it just needs a companion poem, with more kind self-talk. 😏 But its taking me forever to get back into writing, so the plan is to post whatever I get, in the hopes that it spurs me on to write more. (If someone is actually reading this and you have your own poetry online, I'd love to read it - or you can just leave one as a comment. Thank you!)

I.

Living in the now.
At least that's what I try for
Doesn't always work though

II.

Gratefulness is key
Attention to God's blessings
Patience with my flaws

III.

Very imperfect
Yet still with an open heart
Seeking connection

"Starting Today: poems for the first 100 days" ( of President Obama's presidency - a collection of submitted poems)

But here is inspiring poetry: Starting Today: poems for the first 100 days - poetry for the first 100 days of President Obama!

Hundred White Daffodils by Jane Kenyon

This is collection of essays by and interviews with Jane Kenyon. She has some beautiful things to say about Spirituality, as well as the role of poetry in our lives, and of poets in our society.

Renewed Attention to Poetry (It is April, after all!)

I started this blog the year before my first child was born, in 2005. I posted all the poems I had written up to that point, and created a small selection of my favorite poets and some websites with collections of poetry. Then, over the years I wrote a series of "I'm really going to start writing again! Check back soon!" posts, that never lead to anything. LOL! (I've deleted some of those - 😂). But recently, I've joined an virtual spiritual space where one of the many conversations is around poetry and there's a great group of writers who meet once a week just to write. Not to critique one another, just write. And its inpsired me. I've written for 20 minutes a week since I joined. Not much, but a start. And I've come away with what Anne Lamott would call "shitty first drafts", but hope to slowly turn them into poems. (I suppose I really should have waited to write that last line in the past tense AFTER having written them, to avoid having to delete again, but here we are.)

 I've discovered several new poets over the years, some of my favorites being the late Andrea Gibson, and her widow, the gifted and genrous and gracious Megan Falley. (I highly suggest you visit her Instagram and find the reels she's made with short and sweet and utterly lovely tips for refining your poetry. (If you haven't seen Come See Me In The Good Light, you must! You can get a free trial of Apple TV for a week. But you'll want to renew it to watch this documentary about the last year of Andrea's life over and over. (I've also watched every interview and panel every single one of the people involved with the movie have done!) Sara Bareillis and Brandi Carlile gathered some of Andrea's last pieces of poetry to compose a beautiful song that plays at the end of the movie, Salt,Then Sour,Then Sweet . 

I'm also quite tickeled to be from Massachusetts, where our poet laureate (we finally have one!) is Regie Gibson. Seeing him at an event recently, and then getting to talk to him about many things, including his friend Andrea Gibson, has also helped renew my love for poetry. If anyone is reading this, I'd love to know who your favorite poets are! And if you have poetry of your own online, drop a link in the comments! Happy Poetry Month!

My Love (another draft)

This is rough. Its much harder to put these rough, in progress pieces out there. But if you happen upon this...feel free to share your thoughts. - Amy

My Love

hasn’t made me who I am
or completed me in empty places.

My Love
embraces who I am
gives me freedom to become
that Divine being
that cried out
from deep in my soul to escape
her pain.

My love has healed
gaping wounds through which
cheap imitations of love
looked real.
Now I can fill up
with love and it won’t
seep out.

Violet

This is a "mimic" poem on Denise Levertov's "Stepping Westward". Apologies in advance to Denise Levertov fans. ;-) - Amy

Violet

What is violet in me
Deepens, amethyst.
All is royalty
passion, sensuality.
To be a wild woman,
Of freedom, of fantasies,
And love.
Stroking skin,
Crushed velvet
Soft and supple.

Sharon Olds

Sharon Olds has long been one of my favorite poets. You can find links to her poems and biographical info. on my old website, but since she's one of my favorite poets I thought I should devote one blog entry just to her. My favorite poems of Olds (right now anyway), are The Clasp, and "Bathing the newborn".

I read about her again recently, when she declined an invitation to the White House from Laura Bush. Here's an article with the letter from Olds. You can read more on my opinion on this at my blog. Needless to say this act of protest made me respect Sharon Olds even more!