I don't have a poem ready for today, but I do have this:
Joy: Editor's Discussion, September, 2022 at the Poetry Foundation.
- I had never read Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Renascence" before (as Shoemaker had not) and I was deeply moved (as was Shoemaker.)
- I loved learning that Ross Gay is unreachable during his office hours, which he holds in his garden. Oh, joy! The setting aside of technology. Yes.
- And I reveled in the piece by Ada Limón (now the 24th Poet Laureate of the U.S. — huzzah!) about being alone. That short piece was written in 2008 so you'll laugh at the technology references. She wrote, "We spend so much time checking our IM, our e-mails, our texts, that we’re hardly ever alone with our own thoughts." Ah, the difference fourteen years makes. We're drowning even more, wishing that the only noises came from IM, email, texting...But the message is the same. It is good to be alone. We have to be alone sometimes if, as Limón notes, we are to think of Yeats, to write, to simply be.
Spend a little time alone today, or spend time with your favorite Poetry Friday people. (Or spend the day alone with your Poetry Friday people?) Tabatha is hosting today, at The Opposite of Indifference.
16 comments:
Office hours in the garden is the BEST idea yet. Love that.
Renascence needs to be read aloud, does it not? Happy Weekend, friend. Find some quiet!!!
Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Karen. I agree, sometimes it's good to be alone and just be.
Thank you for sharing these insights. One of the reasons I still write my poetry longhand is precisely because I avoid the distraction of technology.
I would love office hours in the garden. I might have to look for a spot on campus that would delight in this way.
tee hee...I'll be holding office hours in my craft room later. Thanks for this!
Oooh, such a needed post. Thank you, Karen. Thinking about some technology-corraling goals for this coming week. xo
Hooray for alone time! So necessary...
Garden hours! Wonderful. (I read that a professor changed the name of her "office hours" to "drop-in hours" and attendance doubled. I expect calling them "garden hours" or "tea hours" would also do the trick!)
I like your theme, and also Laura's term "technology-corraling goals."
It's just cool enough for me to sit at my patio table, still with the laptop but sometimes with only a book, Karen. Like others above, "garden hours" creates a lovely scene. Thanks for the wishes!
I really liked these reminders, Karen. I needed them. Thank you.
Karen, I am strolling in late to some PF posts because my husband is recuperating after his hip replacement. Now, I especially love alone time. Your post was filled with gentle thoughts for our well-being=> "We have to be alone sometimes if, as Limón notes, we are to think of Yeats, to write, to simply be." Thanks.
Tanita, I agree about reading Renascence aloud. Sometimes that makes an enormous difference, doesn't it?
Rose, hope you grabbed some of that "just be" time recently.
Tricia, deliberately sticking to the writing-by-hand is a great strategy for taming the technology. I write poems by hand, too, but I never thought about the beauty of it as a way to escape the keyboard. (Because I almost always compose prose at the keyboard.) Something to ponder.
Linda, I hope your office hours were fun. (I was going to say "productive" but, no! Fun!)
Laura, if you come up with some corraling ideas to share, let us know!
Mary Lee, yes, I perish if I don't get a little alone time now and then. :)
Tabatha, what a smart professor! "Drop in" is so much more inviting.
Linda, the patio and a book/laptop sounds like such a serene scene.
Liz, hope you find some garden/alone time soon (crisp and cool as it may be.) :)
Carol, I hope your husband's recovery is quick!
I'm late in making my Poetry Friday rounds, but I'm glad I stopped by. I'd never read Renascence before either. Wow! Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Karen. And for the reminder of what a blessing alone time is.
Thanks for sharing Shoemaker's post Karen, I'm a fan of Edna St Vincent Millay and Ada Limón too–I'll have to carve out some alone time–in between prepping for classes– to read the post!
The unknown above is from me–Michelle Kogan, oops…
I love solitude and guard it closely. I just wrote about what you get by living in the woods (a nonpoetry post) and one of them is solitude. Thanks for reminding us that we need not have a poem ready to participate in Poetry Friday.
Carmela, I'm of the firm belief that it's never too late to visit a Poetry Friday post. :D Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you, too, Michelle/Unknown. :D Enjoy your classes!
Carol — ah, to live in the woods! But, for me, with internet, of course. :D
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