Reading, Reading, Reading

Beyond writing a poem a day, I do little writing.

That seems okay. Instead, I read and read and read, unconcerned. Could be, I'm a very slow-ripening fruit. . . or nothing matters except what actually happens or following my inclinations.

Here are the books that attracted me in February and March:

• The Bird : A Natural History of Who Birds Are, Where They Came From, and How They Live Tudge, Colin
• Animal / editors-in-chief, David Burnie & Don E. Wilson.
• No country for old men [large print]/ Cormac McCarthy.
• Animal life / editor in chief, Charlotte Uhlenbroek.
• The case for books : past, present, future / Robert Darnton.
• The eco diary of Kirin Singer / by Sue Ann Alderson ; illustrated by Millie Ballance.
• The road / Cormac McCarthy.
• Poetry speaks expanded : hear poets from Tennyson to Plath read their own work / Elise Paschen & Rebekah Presson Mosby, editors ; Charles Osgood, narrator.
• Ten poems to open your heart / Roger Housden.
• I can't keep my own secrets : six-word memoirs by teens famous & obscure : from Smith magazine / edited by Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith.
• Knockout : interviews with doctors who are curing cancer-- and how to prevent getting it in the first place / Suzanne Somers.
• Mirrors : stories of almost everyone / Eduardo Galeano ; English translation by Mark Fried.
• Origami tessellations : awe-inspiring geometric designs / by Eric Gjerde. Gjerde, Eric, 1978-
• Poems, prose, and letters / Elizabeth Bishop.
• Tao te ching : a new English version / with foreword and notes by Stephen Mitchell. Laozi.
• Native American wisdom : a spiritual tradition at one with nature / edited by Alan Jacobs ; introduction by Mick Gidley.
• The gift : poems by the great Sufi master / Hafiz ; translated by Daniel James Ladinsky.
• The winged energy of delight : selected translations / [translated by] Robert Bly.
• Unexpected miracles : hope and holistic healing for pets / Shawn Messonnier.
• The glance : songs of soul-meeting / Rumi ; translated by Coleman Barks with Nevit Ergin.
• Tao te ching : the new translation from tao te ching : the definative edition / Lao Tzu ; translation by Jonathan Star.
• On writing / Eudora Welty ; introduction by Richard Bausch.
• The Duke encyclopedia of new medicine : conventional and alternative medicine for all ages / foreword by Tracy W. Gaudet ; [chief medical editors, Richard Leibowitz, Linda Smith].
• Making & keeping creative journals / Suzanne J.E. Tourtillott.
• Speak to win : how to present with power in any situation / Brian Tracy.
• The house of wisdom : how the Arabs transformed Western civilization / Jonathan
• Green barbarians : how to live bravely on your home planet / Ellen Sandbeck.
• Zero : the biography of a dangerous idea / Charles Seife.
  You've got to read this book! : 55 people tell the story of the book that changed their life / [compiled by] Jack Canfield, Gay Hendricks, with Carol Kline.
• 77 love sonnets / by Garrison Keillor.

I highly recommend Mirrors and Knockout as explorations of non-mainstream perspectives on history, culture and medicine. I can't keep my own secrets actually opens up some very poignant secrets. And The gift made my heart sing. I learned later that the translator took great liberties with the original text, but for my purposes that may have been all to the good.

The house of wisdom greatly expanded my understanding of political and religious history and my appreciation of science and math. Garrison Keillor's sonnets didn't let me down; in fact their artistry, depth and humor did the opposite.

I was disappointed that A case for books seemed hastily thrown together (though it probably had to be, to captialize on recent Google news). Native American wisdom, for my tastes, did not focus enough on what I consider more traditional sources or viewpoints. Cormack McCarthy's books intrigued me with their mostly spare style of letting the action tell the story; but for me this was spoiled by some overt insertions of political/moral commentary. I have not yet read the Green barbarians or Zero, or Speak to win.

*

Re-Borne Pomes

070628

RE-BORNE

Holding on,
I hold to light.

Through the error
of my day,
through the terror
of my night,
holding on,
I hold to light.

Reaching my extremity,
I release—

Then light holds me.


LITTLE VICTORY

Always I’m
a pome behind,
but just one time
before I’m dead,
just one time
(in fact, this time)
I’ll be a pome ahead.


070627

ANOTHER LIE

I wanted us
to be good friends
but we’re at odds,
and so, at ends.


070626

FOREGONE

Which to choose, fun or chore—
write a pome or mop a floor?
Only time for either/or.
(Nothing here to explore!)


070625


MEANT FOR BREEDING

Five tiny finches share a cage.

Four are female, which sets the stage
for the drama I’ll invite
when I get home tonight.

Stopped at a pet store after work,
found a bargain, paid the clerk.
There’ll be drama; that’s my guess.

Just one mama bird, at best—
just one—can sit this nest.


070624

ESSENTIALS

All I have to stave off death
(besides my body and my breath)
are this paper and this pencil.
I need no other utensil.


070623

OVERABUNDANCE

Blueberries fresh,
blueberries frozen;
what else can I stir up?
Blueberry jam,
muffins, pancakes, syrup.


070622

740 GOES TO FORNEY

Celebrated Janet’s birthday
with lunch at Napoli’s.
An eye-opening comment
prompted some strip T’s.

Because of religious convictions
(rap sheets rather long),
instead of « Happy Birthday »
we rendered this rap song :

Though we’re in this world with Janet,
we live on another planet.
Seven-forty goes to Forney :
left at tower, right at rabbit


070621

VERNAL
EQUINOXIOUS

Nature has
few guarantees.

Every spring
the cats get fleas.


070620

MY LUCKY STAR

Ethan is amazing
he dropped here
from a star—
or somewhere else afar.

My life is amazing;
how lucky can I be?
For Ethan lives with me.


070619

GREENERY

What is green,
besides what’s seen ?

There’s greener grass
than what the sun
shines on.

Go out at dusk,
go out at dawn,
and judge the hue
of each lawn’s view.

The greenest grass
is what the sun
shines through.