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Some Days
by Philip Terman
Some days you have to turn off the news
and listen to the bird or truck
or the neighbor screaming out her life.
You have to close all the books and open
all the windows so that whatever swirls
inside can leave and whatever flutters
against the glass can enter. Some days
you have to unplug the phone and step
out to the porch and rock all afternoon
and allow the sun to tell you what to do.
The whole day has to lie ahead of you
like railroad tracks that drift off into gravel.
Some days you have to walk down the wooden
staircase through the evening fog to the river,
where the peach roses are closing,
sit on the grassy bank and wait for the two geese.
Some days when you have to turn off the news, you write. We've been having lots of fun with #haikuforhealing. Heidi said it best:
a fine kettle of
hawks we have here,
rising on hot air
Outsiders have joined in. There's been a poem in Turkish, and one from @broetry.
Tabatha's recent post seems very apt: Do the stuff that only you can do -- make good art.
Hey, we set a record -- the Poetry Friday Roundup Host schedule for January-June 2017 filled up in a single week! Thanks, everyone! Here it is. If you need the code, just shout and I'll email it to you.
This week, Jone has the round up at Check it Out.
Hi Mary Lee, I have taken a screenshot of the poem you just shared and edited it using an iPhone app - will share now in our GatheringBooks page and link up to your post. I just find it so timely, spoke to my soul today.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/GatheringBooks/
Oh! I love, love, love this poem! I'm especially entranced by the image of rocking all afternoon and allowing the sun to tell me what to do. Thanks so much for sharing, Mary Lee. I'm going to print this out and tuck it in my notebook to read and reread.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am very much a turn-off-the-news-and-write kind of person! Thank you for the poem, and I love all the haiku coming in. And: one week! Wow! xo
ReplyDelete"so that whatever swirls
ReplyDeleteinside can leave and whatever flutters
against the glass can enter" -- lovely.
Beautiful details, like those peach roses. Thanks, ML.
We women have a harder time just rocking on the porch, I feel. Yet, it's important for us, too. I love that many are joining in on the December Haiku. I mentioned it on my site, too, and some of my readers said they would check it out. I hope they do. We can all use some contemplation, reverie and appreciation of nature and it's tiniest details.
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect poem!! Thanks for the good reminder to step back, contemplate, and allow ourselves to write, create, and just be.
ReplyDeletePerfect! This is exactly what I need to read. It's been a hectic week and I've had a hard time turning off the news. I need to get outside and listen to the birds!
ReplyDeleteI love this poem and the sentiments. I have to force myself lately, to sit to write. I've acquired more energy and find it more difficult to sit still for long! But the idea of sitting and letting the day speak to you is how I like to live. Going to check out the Haiku challenge, even though I'm way late. It may get me sitting in my writer's chair again.
ReplyDeleteI like that verb "drift" in the poem, what your #haikufor healing challenge has meant to me, Mary Lee, a kind of drifting that does my heart good. Thanks for doing the round-up too!
ReplyDeleteTerrific poem...terrific advice. Need to go wait for those two geese.
ReplyDeleteI love this poem. There are more days these days that I turn off the news and just look outside. The beauty of nature will save me. Please email me the poetry friday schedule. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI want my every days to be my some days, these days. Lovely pome, Mary Lee.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite line is opening the windows to let out what needs to go out and let in what flutters at the window. Yes, I want change and peace. Those stupid hawks!
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite part too!
DeleteI wish I had read this before the news this morning.
ReplyDeleteThis poem should be much more famous--thanks for unearthing a hidden gem, and thanks for the shout-out. The beauty of nature will save us all (unless...oh, go outside, Heidi). And thanks a LOT for rounding up the schedule!
ReplyDeleteWow! This speaks to volumes! I've saved it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOh, this should be each day for me! I especially enjoy the strong verbs throughout your poem. They suggest the action one might take. Thank you for sharing Mary Lee! Please do email me the code for the new PF schedule.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem. Just what is needed. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe perfect poem for an imperfect time. I, too, will be keeping this one close.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we'll have a genuine Christmas miracle this year?
I have been trying to practice that first line:
ReplyDelete"Some days you have to turn off the news"
And we certainly are in a fine kettle.
Thanks for sharing.