A Peaceful Start to My Evening

I felt really good in my yoga class tonight. My mind felt still for a change, and I didn't think about work even once.

Then on the way home, I saw the sun set - just ribbons of color between the trees and under the clouds - and decided to share the following Emily Dickinson poem.



I’ll tell you how the sun rose,--
A ribbon at a time
The steeples swam in amethyst,
The news like squirrels ran.

The hills untied their bonnets,
The bobolinks begun.
The I said softly to myself,
“That must have been the sun!”

But how he set, I know not.
There seemed a purple stile
Which little yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while

Till when they reached the other side,
A dominie in gray
Put gently up the evening bars,
And led the flock away.

Emily Dickinson

Moon

The moon was full last night and it made me think of a poem by Billy Collins.
I love this poem because it reminds me to view the universe with the delight of a small child.

Moon

The moon is full tonight
an illustration for sheet music,
an image in Matthew Arnold
glimmering on the English Channel,
or a ghost over a smoldering battlefield
in one of the history plays.

It’s as full as it was
in that poem by Coleridge
where he carries his year-old son
into the orchard behind the cottage
and turns the baby’s face to the sky
to see for the first time
the earth’s bright companion,
something amazing to make his crying seem small.

And if you wanted to follow this example,
tonight would be the night
to carry some tiny creature outside
and introduce him to the moon.

And if your house has no child,
you can always gather into your arms
the sleeping infant of yourself,
as I have done tonight,
and carry him outdoors,
all limp in his tattered blanket,
making sure to steady his lolling head
with the palm of your hand.

And while the wind ruffles the pear trees
in the corner of the orchard
and dark roses wave against a stone wall,
you can turn him on your shoulder
and walk in circles on the lawn
drunk with the light.
You can lift him up into the sky,
your eyes nearly as wide as his,
as the moon climbs high into the night.

Billy Collins


Billy Collins is one of my favorite poets. He is a former Poet Laureate of the United States and edits a poetry site for the Library of Congress. You can find it at
www.loc.gov/poetry/180/

The website is designed to introduce high school students to poetry. I’ve found a lot of good poems at Poetry 180.

Gimme Some Fruit

I have really grown to like fruit this past spring and summer. I used to eat the occasional banana. Sometimes I drank orange juice or spooned in some applesauce. Now I eat 3 or 4 servings of fruit a day. I love peaches and blueberries on top of cereal or waffles for breakfast. I love cantaloupe melon for dinner as an appetizer. I snack on strawberries with yogurt. This fall I’ll be looking for fresh apples, pears and citrus.

Fruit gives you vitamins, minerals, fiber and sweetness. Buy yourself some fresh fruit at a farmers’ market and enjoy!


Here’s a fun poem by contemporary American poet Kevin Young.

Blues

Gimme some fruit
Gimme some fruit
Fresh salted melon
maybe some mango too

You had me eating pork ribs
You had me eatin ham
You had me so I was feedin
straight out your hand

Gimme some fruit baby
Gimme some fru-uit
Something red
& juicy I can sink
these teeths into

You had me eatin peas Lord
You had me eatin spam
(You had me so turned round)
I never dreamt all you said
came straight out a can

Gimme some fruit
Gimme some fru-uit
Gimme something strong girl
to clear my system of you

You served me up
like chicken
You deviled me like ham
Alls the while I never knew
you had another man

Gimme some fruit girl
Gimme some tomato too
What else is a poor
carnivore like me
without you supposed to do

Kevin Young


Here is a link to Kevin Young’s website. I have a book of his poetry and I love it.

http://www.kevinyoungpoetry.com/home.html

A Poem for Labor Day

My father always said God gave us work to keep us out of trouble. I think he was right.

All of us work.
Some of us herd cows.
Some of us raise horses.
Some of us are librarians, some teachers.
Some of us are medical providers.
Some of us are website designers.
Some of us are tax collectors.
Some of us work taking care of small children, or elderly parents.
Some of us mow lawns or plant flowers.
Most of us clean house, do laundry and cook meals.

It’s all work, and something to celebrate. So let’s all celebrate work this Labor Day, and hope it keeps us out of trouble.


The Expulsion

By Katha Pollitt

Adam was happy -- now he had someone to blame
for everything: shipwrecks, Troy,
the gray face in the mirror.

Eve was happy -- now he would always need her.
She walked on boldly, swaying her beautiful hips.

The serpent admired his emerald coat,
the Angel burst into flames
(he'd never approved of them, and he was right).

Even God was secretly pleased: Let
History begin!

The dog had no regrets, trotting by Adam's side
self-importantly, glad to be rid

of the lion, the toad, the basilisk, the white-footed mouse,
who were also happy and forgot their names immediately.

Only the Tree of Knowledge stood forlorn,
its small hard bitter crab apples

glinting high up, in a twilight of black leaves.
How pleasant it had been, how unexpected

to have been, however briefly,
the center of attention.

Katha Pollitt (born October 14, 1949) is an American feminist poet, essayist and critic.