THANKS by W.S. Merwin
This poem starts out easy, but it gets complicated real quick. Kind of like life. In her commentary, Tracy K. Smith says of the poem,"It insists upon a fierce form of moral reckoning."
Nonetheless, I'm giving thanks for YOU, as well as for every bit of this complicated messy achingly beautiful world. Listen to the podcast and read the whole poem here.
Thanks, also, for Michelle Kogan's POWER filled Poetry Friday Roundup. The last roundup of the year. I almost missed this one...what day is it today? Lookie there! It's Friday!!
The January - June 2020 roundup list is in our sidebar for the grabbing (or message me and I'll send you the code) and on the Kidlitosphere website.
I'm giving thanks for you, Mary Lee, and for W.S. Merwin, and this community.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more poetry and more gratitude in 2020!
Thank you Mary Lee for sharing another episode of "the Slowdown" and W.S. Merwin who is another favorite poet of mine–wish he was still around–I thought about going to Hawaii walking through his garden and getting to talk with him, unfortunately that will never be–maybe in a poem sometime…
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary Lee for the poem that made me stop and think this morning of all that I am grateful for. I was pleased upon opening the podcast that it talks about the merits of raising kind and gentle children. This week we have been talking to my granddaughter about that concept. I just love it when she says, "Thank you, Grandma." Sometimes, she says back, "You're welcome", to remind me to say that when she thanks me. Giving thanks for Poetry Friday and PF friends is in order. I have always been grateful for being welcomed into the community. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteOh, it does take courage to listen to this poem that Tracy K. Smith reads so beautifully. The repetition is a drum beat in my head of what thank you really means. So much we lose in a year, in a life...and yet still...thank you.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is a fierce and thought-provoking poem. Thanks for sharing it. I wasn't familiar with the SlowDown, either. So I'm glad you shared that, too. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteOh, this is a powerful poem and one that I wasn't familiar with. It isn't comfortable to face that "fierce form of moral reckoning" but oh, how important it is. Thank you, Mary Lee, for sharing this poem and for making me think.
ReplyDeleteThank you for you too.
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