A few weeks ago a friend asked if I would do my
solstice project this year and I said "yes, but be prepared, it might be kind of
dark." The early sunset has hit me hard this year, the pots from the last firing
are somber and my mood has been dark.
"Still, love is the impulse from which poetry springs. Even dark poems, Especially dark poems. To know the worst and write in spite of that, that must be love. To celebrate what's on the other side of the darkness. Truly great poetry always sprung from love-in-spite-of, like love for a deeply flawed person.
And it it's true as [William Carlos] WIlliams wrote, that people die from lack of what is found in poems, then poetry must not be trivial, peripheral, ivory-towerism as it is often accused of being; then we have a responsibility to speak to and for others. Certainly that means acknowledging suffering. But it also means to heal, to bring delight and hope; It implies consolation. How to console without being false, shallow or sentimental. I find that the hardest challenge."
--Lisel Mueller
"Still, love is the impulse from which poetry springs. Even dark poems, Especially dark poems. To know the worst and write in spite of that, that must be love. To celebrate what's on the other side of the darkness. Truly great poetry always sprung from love-in-spite-of, like love for a deeply flawed person.
And it it's true as [William Carlos] WIlliams wrote, that people die from lack of what is found in poems, then poetry must not be trivial, peripheral, ivory-towerism as it is often accused of being; then we have a responsibility to speak to and for others. Certainly that means acknowledging suffering. But it also means to heal, to bring delight and hope; It implies consolation. How to console without being false, shallow or sentimental. I find that the hardest challenge."
--Lisel Mueller
I love your posts and pics and quotes. Thank you so much for sharing this.
All best to you.
Catherine, your post was so lovely and moving. I cried as I read Eleanor the poem you included. We are both feeling flawed and awfully human these days, and Eleanor writes a lot of poetry to process her thoughts and feelings. So, THANK YOU. Your loss of your father is palpable as you describe dealing with what remains. I remember well the hole I felt when my dad passed on. Tears are good!