All the Earliest Poems are Prayers
"All the earliest poems are prayers."
~ Robert Hass, National Book Festival 2018
We search and search for the word, the gesture, the thing in all
that’s cracked and broken. Is it possible to tend to all the
Humpty Dumpties we rush to—we triage in the earliest
moments after their falls? We recite petitionary poems
for cures and repair. We forget that what we need also are
Silences, moments of golden rule—good and honest prayers
© 2018 Linda Mitchell. All rights reserved.
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Click HERE to read this month's interview with Naomi Shihab Nye. Her DMC challenge is to write a letter to yourself in which you ask some questions that you don't have to answer. (Please keep in mind that your poem does not need to be in standard letter form.)
Post your poem on our September 2018 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up presentation this Friday, September 28th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of her latest collection of poetry from Greenwillow Books:
Thank you for this poem, Linda, for so many reasons. For the cracked Humpty Dumpty. For the silent prayers. And for the memory of sitting next to you listening to Robert Haas and Tracy Smith. Joy!
ReplyDeleteYou've written it true, Linda. So many are sharing those "petitionary poems", hopeful that the day will be better than the one before. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThis resonates with me too, Linda—especially all those cracked Humpty Dumpty's I rush to each and every day. I'm grateful for the quiet moment I spent reading your poem this morning. :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this, Linda.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I liked this--I've ended up really liking this form (the name which escapes me) after reading so many here last year. I really liked especially the last two lines
ReplyDelete"...We forget that what we need also are
Silences, moments of golden rule—good and honest prayers."
It's a golden shovel, Bekah. :)
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