Linda Pastan's poem is an ode to the power of the ubiquitous and necessary darkness, and sadness, in our lives.
Tag: Sadness
Cristina Legarda – Mary
Poet Cristina Legarda's tender poem "Mary" is written from the viewpoint of the mother of Jesus Christ, as she looks back with a heart full of love and sadness at moments with her divine child.
The Only Kind of Courage That is Required of Us
"Only someone who is ready for everything, who doesn’t exclude any experience, even the most incomprehensible, will live the relationship with another person as something alive and will himself sound the depths of his own being." - Rainer Maria Rilke This passage from a letter is the source of one of the poet Rainer Maria… Continue reading The Only Kind of Courage That is Required of Us
Pablo Neruda – Keeping Quiet
'Let's stop for one second,' wrote Pablo Neruda in a poetic manifesto for the very personal and very political act of doing nothing. He imagined the world stopping to catch its breath for a moment, and the 'sudden strangeness' that would emerge.
Infinities of Blue – Maggie Nelson
In a 2007 interview about her writing, Maggie Nelson said that the starting question for her book, Bluets, which is all about the color blue, was this: "can I contain all the information and feeling I have collected over the years about the color blue (my favorite color) and marry it to the form of Wittgensteinian… Continue reading Infinities of Blue – Maggie Nelson
Jane Hirshfield’s “A Carbon-Based Life Form”
New York-born poet Jane Hirshfield studied Zen at the San Francisco Zen Center and at the monastery in Tassajara for a total of eight years before going on to garner a host of accolades for her poetry writing and editorial work. "A Carbon-Based Life Form" A person tired from happiness grows sober. Another, worn… Continue reading Jane Hirshfield’s “A Carbon-Based Life Form”