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| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Heinz-Eberhard Boden |
by Kay Ryan
However carved up
or pared down we get,
we keep on making
the best of it as though
it doesn't matter that
our acre's down to
a square foot.
However carved up
or pared down we get,
we keep on making
the best of it as though
it doesn't matter that
our acre's down to
a square foot.
My acre is feeling like it's down to more like a square inch, but I'm making the best of it.
Paul has the Poetry Friday roundup at These 4 Corners.
Some big truth in this poem!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear your down to a square inch - hoping some space opens up for you soon. Wonderful poem to express the notion.
ReplyDeleteThat bean photo is LOVELY, and our one square inch matters. Nowhere do we know better than in kindergarten than one bean can nourish us. And I'm not sure you can be both an outstanding angler AND an outstanding farmer. Or bean-counter.
ReplyDeleteMiss you!!!
I remember this marvelous poem. Thank you for sharing it, Mary Lee!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the midst of prep for our big Expo in a couple of weeks, & this helped me put it all in perspective, Mary Lee! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLove the truth in this poem. A nice reminder to make the most of what we have in any given moment.
ReplyDeleteLive in the moment! Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteI love the imagery and internal rhymes in this poem. Thank you for sharing it. I'm sending you expansive wishes.
ReplyDeleteGad, there is just no one like Kay Ryan for that tight technical control but big-hearted moments. Thanks for sharing, Mary Lee.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful poem...one I needed too. May we all patch our inches together and make this quilt of friendship here on Poetry Friday. *grateful for you* xx
ReplyDeleteI am trying to diet, so I feel like one bean is all I get to eat. But seriously, Kay Ryan has a way of putting together a large idea with very few words. Masterful.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem - words to live by. Sending you expansive vibes, Mary Lee!
ReplyDeleteWell, I am here, too. I love Amy's perspective of patching our inches together...we need to do that.
ReplyDeleteOh, but one bean does matter. If the who dang field dried up, then I'd be worried. Sending you sunlight and water, Mary Lee.
ReplyDeleteSupposed to be whole, not who. But you probably figured that out. ;)
DeleteLeave it to Kay Ryan to express this feeling in a compact way. Love the opposites in "carved up and pared down." I sure hope your garden brightens soon. Remember the potential in that one bean!
ReplyDeleteHere's to one square inch and all the potential it holds!
ReplyDeleteNow that's relentless optimism. Haha. I am currently reading Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Teach - this sounds like a poem that should be included in that anthology. :)
ReplyDelete