July 21st
Greetings from Chicago…
Taking some time this morning, with my cuppa, to bring you one of my fav poets, Mary Oliver… Do you know her work?
“Her poetry combines dark introspection with joyous release. It assumes a close relationship between women and nature, she found that the self is only strengthened through an immersion with nature. Oliver is known for her unadorned language and accessible themes.”
Mary Oliver
The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean –
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down –
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
+ Mary Oliver
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And I love this book! Devotions
“Today is a day like any other: twenty-four hours, a little sunshine, a little rain. Listen, says ambition, nervously shifting her weight from one boot to another—why don’t you get going? For there I am, in the mossy shadows, under the trees. And to tell the truth I don’t want to let go of the wrists of idleness, I don’t want to sell my life for money, I don’t even want to come in out of the rain.”
― Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
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“Maybe our world will grow kinder eventually. Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us.”
― Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
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“I tell you this to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world.”
― Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
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And here is a clip read by
Saoirse’s Shelf On YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfSX5K515pk
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Who do you love to read? Can you share a clip or two with me of your favorite poems?
Have a blessed rest of your week. I”m heading out to Ohio today to help my mom for awhile… See you again soon!
If you are wanting to do some more writing, or try some poetry, or get your journaling practice happening, like we do every week, you can join my Tuesday weekly class, on zoom, 3:00 PST…
From the Body to the Page!
Our once-a-week gathering on Zoom with focused time to journal to the varied prompts of poetry, stories, magic and soul-searching phrases!
Join us for our weekly virtual journaling/writing class, with adventurous prompts and inspired sharing, time for you to dive into your words and your self-expression! It’s only $27 bucks, a month to join us every week for an hour of YOU time, exploring your words, heart and soul, and fun expressions!!!
Register here:
https://www.paulettereesdenis.com/from-the-body-to-the-page-a-writing-journey/
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If you would like to submit a piece of your writing, or someone else’s that has inspired you, or a quote, or a poem, for our Weekly Musings, here is a way to do that, easy:
Submission for
The Weekly Musings
From the Body to the Page
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Submissions:
(You must own your submissions or give permission and give credit to who wrote it!)
Email to Paulette@paulettereesdenis.com
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