This week the weather has turned to rain, rain, rain. The fog is hovering. Humidity high. Winter blues making me down. But then there is poetry.
Poetry saves me. I am empowered and energized by having written something. Every day, no matter the weather, I can write a poem.
Elfchen has been my go-to form. I’m writing a few everyday. It’s such a nice compact form that can contain all of my emotions and balance my mood. Here’s one from my notebook.
January 25, 2024
Margaret Simon, 1/25/24 draft
Truth
comes in
times of silence
contemplating the thrumming rain
Presence.
I’ve signed up for The Stafford Challenge which is basically a commitment to write daily as William Stafford did. Here’s a poem about wanting to sleep in. It makes me smile.
You Do Not Have to be Good*
(*Mary Oliver “Wild Geese”)You do not have to wake at 4 AM
to feed the cats
mewing at the back door.
Cats are survivors.Turn over, go back to sleep–
the most delicious sleep comes
in the wee hours of the morning
in the whisper of the heater
under the warm blanket
his breathing, slow and steady.Stretch your cramping foot.
Discuss with yourself how the day will go
if you just sleep a little more.Dream, perhaps,
Margaret Simon, draft
in this liminal space
of sacred meditation.
Lie with yourself;
Tell her to calm down.
The cats can wait.
How is your January going? Doesn’t it feel like such a long month? I hope you are writing yourself through it. And staying warm.
Reflections on the Teche 