Poetry Friday: Poetic Meanderings

  Christie at Wondering and Wandering is hosting 
this week's roundup of poetic goodness
with a double treat: a birdsong poem
and her contribution to the
2020 Progressive poem. 

There's something so delicious about the word meandering. And I find myself meandering more and more lately. I meander on my walks. I meander through the pics I'm organizing. And then I meander through a memory or two or three. And this morning, I've meandered a bit as I've tried to assemble this post.

First, and I'm sure many have already mentioned this, I'm sharing an invite I received to Shelter in Poems: A Virtual Reading sponsored by The Academy of American Poets. Go ahead, meander over to the link, and RSVP right now. And then put it on your calendar and put a reminder in your phone. This is an evening you don't want to miss. And maybe you might even dress up for it! Or wear your most comfy clothing, you get to choose.

When I went to find the link to the virtual reading on Academy of American Poets, this quote by Joy Harjo, our current US poet laureate, popped up: "Without poetry, we lose our way." And perhaps, I could add, "With poetry, we meander in search of our way."

And then I had to read the poem for today "Church for the Disliked" by Sy Hoahwah because I glimpsed the word Okmulgee (a town I've driven through countless times on my way from my hometown McAlester to Tulsa) in the opening stanza. I still want to go back and read the Related Poems linked at the bottom of the page, but I'm saving those for later since I only have nine minutes to finish this post. 

I wandered over to my bookshelf and picked up my favorite comfort book of poems, Healing the Divide, in search of a poem to share. I found the bookmark on "Gathering" by Natasha  Tretheway. 

And when I went on the web to search and see if it's shared somewhere that I can link to, I found this reference to the poem in a 2018 Paris Review interview by Lauren LeBlanc with the poet: 

"I’m struck by the optimism you project in a poem such as 'Gathering,' when you write, 

'I begin to see
our lives are like this—we take
what we need of light. 

We glisten, preserve
handpicked days in memory,
our minds’ dark pantry.'

At a time like the present, we need these reserves more than ever. Could you talk about the idea of light preserved in the darkness, how drawing from that historical moment, we find a way to move towards hope?"

And I leave you with the link to the article so you can read the poet's answer because my meandering and writing time is over. Happy Poetry Friday!