The Living Poetry Project: Part Eleven
More rain.
Rain is a great reason for poetry. JJ and I hid poems from Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabiesall all over the local Mall.
Light verse is tricky; I love its softness and compression, its rhyme and rhythm. I often make the mistake of taking light verse lightly, but a good poem is never shallow. As I read the poems of Rossetti and Hugo, I began to tear-up; my baby just turned four this week—my hopes for him grow faster than I can keep up.
It is unsettling being a parent—I live in a constant and unrelenting fear for his well being. It is the simple comforts that keep me together—a smile from a stranger, a meal from a friend, a joke, a rainstorm, a familiar song. Light verse, like comfort, is stated simply for the sake of sincerity.
What a great gift from Hugo and Roseetti, who in the face of there own horrific hardships took the time to say Everything’s going to be alright. On this rainy day, it is good to be reminded that every storm passes, rainbows are beautiful, and the world is filled with light verse.
Be Like the Bird
“Be like the bird that, pausing / in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, / feels them give way beneath her, / and yet sings, / knowing that she hath wings.”
—Victor Hugo
What Are Heavy? Sea-Sand And Sorrow
What are heavy? Sea-sand and sorrow:
What are brief? To-day and to-morrow:
What are frail? Spring blossoms and youth:
What are deep? The ocean and truth.
—Christina Georgina Rossetti
