Thank you TJ. This brought me figuratively to my knees. It is what I’ve been searching for this week. And didn’t know it til you brought it. Grateful. ❤️🩹
This is one of my all time favorite poems. From the first time I read it, and each time thereafter, it continues to bring me a sense of peace. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Terry. One good thing about Trump is he has made it possible for us to get to know you as a person. I always enjoyed your news commentary and questions! Thank you for sharing today's beautiful poem. Poetry: God's voice in the written word. It was a life line when I was younger, as I believe it is for many others.
Isn't it a lifeline anymore? Do you know George Herbert's poem "Prayer"?
I think it just may be the most beautiful poem in the English language -- it's still a lifeline for me, at 84 (me, not the poem, which is way older than I!)
Beautifully said -“Poetry, good poetry, has a singular power. It can make us less lonely, less isolated, as it raises within us a song that was made in the emotional depths and refined through the flashing nerve endings of another human being, the poet, and in that translation across the page from writer to reader we are granted a moment of solidarity with another soul“
Wow! Same church; different pew- seven brothers and three sisters. I’m not sure how my parents got us dressed and ready for Mass. but those memories remain an important part of who I am. You’ve reminded me of what’s important. Thanks Terry!
Your words are calming while being thought provoking. I am a paying subscriber to 3 Substack writers. Steady by Dan Rather, Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From An American and now yours. I’m glad you are here, we need more kind, caring , intelligent people to help us during these challenging times. Thank you.
Powerful, and I personally thank you for sharing this, as now I have a new writer to discover. And what a fantastic family tradition to continue with...Carry on.
I hope you’ll keep a Sunday poem tradition here. Here’s one of my favorites:
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
― St. Patrick
Amen
From Psalms. Got me through my husband’s burial at Arlington. 🙏🏻
Thank you for your Substack, and for sharing this lovely family tradition. 🙏🏼❤️
My favorite!
Yes to Sunday poetry and slowing into some moments of spaciousness.🙏🌿💕
I love this idea Terry!
That’s psalms
Never forget... a teenager, just getting a snack of tea and candy... and never made it home.
This is every mother's dread;
if you love your child,
understand you, too,
can do something
so ALL of our children make it home
SAFE.
-Beverly Falls
Volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
That is a POEM. Beauty is truth and truth beauty...
This week seemed to give a gut punch.. Needed some down time from the news, to get recharged… So here’s a poem by Wendell Berry:
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
Rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
Who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water,
And I feel above me the day-blind
stars waiting with their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Wendell Berry is one of our finest poets,
and this poem is among my favorites. Thank you for posting it. 🙏
I have a framed copy of this poem hanging in my bedroom.
Thank you TJ. This brought me figuratively to my knees. It is what I’ve been searching for this week. And didn’t know it til you brought it. Grateful. ❤️🩹
This is one of my all time favorite poems. From the first time I read it, and each time thereafter, it continues to bring me a sense of peace. Thank you for sharing.
One of my favorites also..it seems to be on an ever ending loop anymore..
Beautiful!!
Thank you, Terry. One good thing about Trump is he has made it possible for us to get to know you as a person. I always enjoyed your news commentary and questions! Thank you for sharing today's beautiful poem. Poetry: God's voice in the written word. It was a life line when I was younger, as I believe it is for many others.
Isn't it a lifeline anymore? Do you know George Herbert's poem "Prayer"?
I think it just may be the most beautiful poem in the English language -- it's still a lifeline for me, at 84 (me, not the poem, which is way older than I!)
A poem I remember my father reciting
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men."
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blest,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest
.
My Mama read us that one, too!
Beautifully said -“Poetry, good poetry, has a singular power. It can make us less lonely, less isolated, as it raises within us a song that was made in the emotional depths and refined through the flashing nerve endings of another human being, the poet, and in that translation across the page from writer to reader we are granted a moment of solidarity with another soul“
That floored me too.
Thank you. Beautiful tradition-and powerful poem today. Thank you.
Sunday Brunch
and where
do your parents
summer?
she asked
him.
the front porch,
he replied.
Reuben Jackson
Wow! Same church; different pew- seven brothers and three sisters. I’m not sure how my parents got us dressed and ready for Mass. but those memories remain an important part of who I am. You’ve reminded me of what’s important. Thanks Terry!
We should compare notes sometime!
Your words are calming while being thought provoking. I am a paying subscriber to 3 Substack writers. Steady by Dan Rather, Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From An American and now yours. I’m glad you are here, we need more kind, caring , intelligent people to help us during these challenging times. Thank you.
Thanks. This is a beautiful tradition, terry.
Thank you Terry. This poem did make me slow down. Stopped me in my tracks.
“Thank you Terry. This poem did make me slow down. Stopped me in my tracks.”
Poetry is paradigm shifting.
Brilliant idea. Today's poem is breathtaking. If you don't mind, I might share a poem or two along the way.
Please do!
Love this…I am looking forward to more.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
Powerful, and I personally thank you for sharing this, as now I have a new writer to discover. And what a fantastic family tradition to continue with...Carry on.
But still, like dust, I ride.
-- Maya Angalou