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| Details of my Poetry Month Project can be found here. |
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| Unmuseum.org |
The Eight Gratitudes
I hope you won't think I'm wasting
one of my eight
by choosing daffodils.
They hold hope
in their cup-and-saucer blooms.
If I choose
books --
the ones I bought yesterday,
plus the ones that line nearly every wall of every room --
can they also stand
for the authors,
and my fellow readers,
and a quiet afternoon
spent curled up on the couch reading?
Is that cheating?
How could I not
include chocolate?
Or my mug of hot tea
first thing
in the morning?
When I close my eyes
and think of home,
I picture my mother,
looking out the window above the kitchen sink,
calling me
to come and see
the sunset.
Yes, that's worth three:
home, mom, sunsets.
Number eight is silence,
which was broken just now
by the train's whistle,
and earlier
by the robins and wrens
singing in the dark.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2014
As I read about The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, trying to find a starting point for a poem, I came across these names for the pagoda: "Bao'ensi, or "Temple of Gratitude," and I learned that the base of the tower is octagonal. That's all I needed. My poem would be, "The Eight Gratitudes," which is a poem I could probably (should probably) write every day of my life with eight different gratitudes per day. After all, there's a growing body of research that shows an "Attitude of Gratitude" is actually good for your health.
The original tower, built to honor either the Emperor's parents or just his mother, was destroyed in the 19th Century, but was rebuilt in 2010.
Amy has been writing about her mentor poems in her process notes for her daily poems at The Poem Farm. I didn't have a particular poem in mind as I wrote, but I tried to imitate the conversational tone of Billy Collins' or George Bilgere's poetry.
Kevin's Notegraphy is here.
Kevin's Notegraphy is here.
Be sure to visit Carol's Corner to read the fabulous abecedarian Carol wrote about The Great Wall of China yesterday.
You managed a lovely voice, just like talking to us, Mary Lee. I'm happy to hear your eight-parallels some of mine. I like the history you shared, and isn't it grand that they re-built this beautiful thing? I wonder if that has ever been done in the US? The White House I know, but others? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYour poem is beautiful, Mary Lee...just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous - and I love this poetic voice, full of quiet confidence. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is so, so perfect. Absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDelete"Porcelain Tower"
Cleaning out my mother’s house
my sisters and I build a porcelain pagoda
treasures we do not know how to keep
but cannot bear to give away
in the middle of the living room
Sterling silver tea set
my parents’ wedding gift
from my Grandmother Wilcox
it lived on dining room buffet
for many years
Sunday afternoons
my father would watch golf or football
and polish the tea service
he has been gone twenty years
and the tea service
clearly misses his ministrations.
Wedding china
White with one pink rosebud
wrapped around the rim
the first year
I did not come home
for Thanksgiving
my throat ached as
I pictured my family
uncovering those pink rosebuds
as they ate turkey
and homemade cranberry relish.
Waterford crystal
cut glass dishes,
pitcher, sugar bowl,
one piece purchased
by my Grandma Grace
every December
for my parents’ anniversary
displayed in
special bottom-lit case
but rarely used
because it chipped so easily
We heap everything
in the middle of the living room
one sister says none of this goes with her modern décor
the other says she has her own collection
I imagine my boys’ large rough hands
mishandling these delicacies.
Finally
we wrap everything in bubble wrap
and store it in tubs
building a plastic pagoda
in my youngest sister’s basement.
(c) Carol Wilcox, 2014
Mine
ReplyDeletehttps://notegraphy.com/dogtrax/note/747890
Kevin
I absolutely love this, Mary Lee.
ReplyDelete