Poetry Sunday: Today

We've had a lot of perfect spring days over the past week. Temperatures just right, clear blue skies, lots of golden sunshine, gentle breezes. Billy Collins knows about such days and he captures them perfectly in words.

Today


BY BILLY COLLINS
If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

~~~

I hope that is just the kind of day you are having. To all my Christian readers, happy Easter. And to everyone else, happy spring (or fall, if you are in the southern hemisphere). Whatever time it is on your personal calendar, I hope your day is perfect!

Comments

  1. Judy KruegerMarch 27, 2016 at 10:53 AM

    Perfect so far Dorothy. Hope yours is too. I love that image of smashing the glass paperweight to release the inhabitants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 27, 2016 at 11:17 AM

      Isn't that wonderful? I love Collins' imagination.

      Delete
  2. CarmenMarch 27, 2016 at 1:30 PM

    Lovely poem. Happy Easter to you as well, Dorothy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 27, 2016 at 4:26 PM

      Thank you, Carmen, and I hope your day is going well.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMarch 27, 2016 at 3:06 PM

    Good words thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LauraEhlersMarch 28, 2016 at 9:16 AM

    What a lovely poem. And exactly how I feel on those beautiful spring days!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 28, 2016 at 10:29 AM

      I think it expresses those "spring" feelings so well.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...
Read more

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review

Image
  I have read a few of John Sandford's books in the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This book is a literal offspring of that series. It's the first in a series featuring Davenport's adopted daughter Letty Davenport. Letty is in her mid-20s and a graduate of Stanford. She works for a U.S. senator named Christopher Colles in a desk job but she's bored with her assignments. Then the senator offers her a chance to go into the field as a liaison between his office and the Department of Homeland Security.  In her first assignment in that position, she is sent to Texas along with DHS investigator John Kaiser to try to find out what is happening in regard to thefts of crude oil. The senator is not so concerned about the lost oil but wants to know where the money from its sale is going. Who is selling the oil and what they are doing with the profits? The suspicion is that a particularly nasty militia group led by a woman is involved. Letty and Kaiser head out to Texas, de...
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...
Read more