Poetry for Hard Times

Have you ever noticed that in times of need, or celebration of a life, people turn to poetry? We don't think of poetry often, most of us, (myself not included), or read it, but when it's time for a funeral, a baptism, a wedding or something momentous occurs, we need the intensity and beauty of powerful words sculpted into deeper meaning.

Reading the paper this morning, I saw this poem in a notice about a young girl's short life:


“When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.” 
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Beauty,  isn't it?

So here's something beautiful you can do right now - look online for poems about things that matter. You'll find a ton of them. Do a google search by theme. For example, I have a bunch of middle aged poems on my other blog - wisdom for women, and poems for lots of occasions.

My other favourite source is Garrison Keillor's great selection: Good Poems. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/garrison-keillor


Here's one by Denise Levertov, a poet I discovered in a creative writing program:

Living

The fire in leaf and grass
so green it seems
each summer the last summer.
The wind blowing, the leaves
shivering in the sun,
each day the last day.

A red salamander
so cold and so
easy to catch, dreamily

moves his delicate feet
and long tail. I hold
my hand open for him to go.

Each minute the last minute.

enjoy every minute of this lush, green summer!

Musemother