Stone Cutter and Cloud
~ Steve Klepetar
Tonight I am stone
cutter and cloud, a man
with empty hands, who
stands before you spinning
with sleep, wearing the ropes
of day, dressed in thin,
ragged shreds of dream.
Something to keep in mind as you move through your manic Monday.
Invitation
~ Mary Oliver
Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude—
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
The opening lines from an unknown woman in fourteenth century Italy resonate more strongly than we might wish in 2017.
This World I’d Wish to Leave and God to Serve
~ Anonymous Woman, Italy, Fourteenth Century
This world I’d wish to leave and God to serve
and myself to sever from all vanity,
because the growth and increase I observe
of falsehood, foolishness, and villainy.
Good sense and courtesy also expire,
high excellence and generosity;
wherefore no lord or husband I desire
nor in the world remain now willingly.
Seeing that evil by every man is worn,
all of them I do disdain,
and toward God my self I turn.
My father fills me with an anxious pain
for from serving Christ he does prevent me:
I know not to what lord he wants to give me.
“The site of Thynghowe is located at the summit of Hanger Hill on the boundary of Budby, Warsop and Edwinstowe parishes, on the edge of Birklands wood, the home of the world famous Major Oak (the legendary hideaway of Robin Hood) and the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve, and was the location of a meeting site used by Vikings in the heart of Sherwood Forest. The name Thynghowe means ‘hill of assembly’ and the site is the location of a Vikings Assembly site or ‘Thing’.”
Do click through to read the article—this is terrifically exciting!
The Singer
~ James Brush
I strung my guitar with hair you gave me,
thinking it was yours,
but old songs came in unknown keys,
the voices of animals.
