40 Comments
User's avatar
Barbara's avatar

I'm really late reading this. The last 1-2 weeks or so, around the time since your post, it's been unusually sunny here. Totally cloudless almost for a few days now even. It's almost a full moon now.

My word of change is slow down (I generally find the world far to fast and I think it would help a lot if the overall pace would slow down a bit!)

Favourite poem is a very hard thing to decide on! So many. One that I find very beautiful is this one by Mascha Kaleko - it's in German and I'm sure there are good translations but I find poetry in translation is almost never as good as in the original, there is so much about the sound and rhythms, rhymes etc that gets lost.

- Gedicht zum Trost - by Mascha Kaleko

Weil Deine Augen so voll Tränen sind

und Deine Stirn so schwer ist von Gedanken,

lass mich Dich trösten,

so wie man ein Kind in Schlaf einsingt -

wenn letzte Sterne sanken.

Die Sonne ruf ich an, das Meer, den Wind,

Dir ihren hellsten Sonnentag zu schenken;

den schönsten Traum auf Dich herabzusenken -

weil Deine Nächte so voll Wolken sind.

Und wenn Dein Mund ein neues Lied beginnt,

dann will ich Meer und Wind und Sonne danken;

weil Deine Augen so voll Tränen sind,

und Deine Stirn so schwer ist von Gedanken.

Expand full comment
bayjh's avatar

My name is Joan and my word for change is, “innovation.”

Expand full comment
Julie York's avatar

Some good poets are William Blake work, The poem I am in Need of Music because I love music so much. Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost are also good poets.

Expand full comment
Brent Daniel Schei/Hagen's avatar

My name is Brent and my word for change is redemption.

Lovely, positive, life-affirming stuff, Jesse. I especially appreciate your sharing the poem by Wendell Berry and the writing by Rose Theodora (Wow!). Thanks as always!

Expand full comment
Julie York's avatar

Spring marks the end of winter.

The weather is changing from cold to warm.

Some days we have warm weather outside

Some days, it is cold outside.

The leaves start to bloom many colors on the trees

Spring is the time to go out more

Explore new things

Go on many adventures

Discover new things.

Expand full comment
Claudia  Diaspro's avatar

questa è la mia poesia preferita:

“Itaca” di Konstantinos Kavafis

Quando ti metterai in viaggio per Itaca

devi augurarti che la strada sia lunga,

fertile in avventure e in esperienze.

I Lestrigoni e i Ciclopi

o la furia di Nettuno non temere,

non sarà questo il genere di incontri

se il pensiero resta alto e un sentimento

fermo guida il tuo spirito e il tuo corpo.

In Ciclopi e Lestrigoni, no certo,

nè nell’irato Nettuno incapperai

se non li porti dentro

se l’anima non te li mette contro.

Devi augurarti che la strada sia lunga.

Che i mattini d’estate siano tanti

quando nei porti – finalmente e con che gioia –

toccherai terra tu per la prima volta:

negli empori fenici indugia e acquista

madreperle coralli ebano e ambre

tutta merce fina, anche profumi

penetranti d’ogni sorta; più profumi inebrianti che puoi,

va in molte città egizie

impara una quantità di cose dai dotti.

Sempre devi avere in mente Itaca –

raggiungerla sia il pensiero costante.

Soprattutto, non affrettare il viaggio;

fa che duri a lungo, per anni, e che da vecchio

metta piede sull’isola, tu, ricco

dei tesori accumulati per strada

senza aspettarti ricchezze da Itaca.

Itaca ti ha dato il bel viaggio,

senza di lei mai ti saresti messo

sulla strada: che cos’altro ti aspetti?

E se la trovi povera, non per questo Itaca ti avrà deluso.

Fatto ormai savio, con tutta la tua esperienza addosso

già tu avrai capito ciò che Itaca vuole significare.

Expand full comment
Claudia  Diaspro's avatar

Cara Jesse, ti scrivo in Italiano per l'occasione e conta sul mio aiuto per un po' di conversazione! é molto bello il tuo discorso, BRAVA! La mia parola di cambiamento è POSITIVITà, credo che con un atteggiamento positivo si possano cambiare tante cose, magari piccole ma è meglio di niente. Troppe volte ci si lamenta senza alcun risultato.

Anni fa ho curato un numero della rivista per cui lavoro dedicato al progetto "Agenda 2030" è stato un lavoro interessante, mi piacerebbe potertelo far avere.

Ti abbraccio, e grazie per le tue condivisioni.

Expand full comment
Judith Frizlen's avatar

My word for change is transform. And the book of poetry I am enjoying is called, "Poems for Women of a Certain Age' written by Felicitas Kusch-Lango who lives in Mexico now, but used to live in Buffalo, my hometown. Here's a taste:

"Most of my Life is behind me

I know

When the heron flies by

my gaze lingers a little longer

as she disappears on the horizon."

Expand full comment
Frederic Ward's avatar

What an incredible post. You never cease to inspire with your dazzling imagination and your compassion for our world and the people who dwell in it.

I love every bit of this. Especially the Berry poem, it brought to mind the Wordsworth line -

"One impulse from a vernal wood

May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can."

Thanks again for this post and all that you do, Jesse.

I have been struggling to come up with my word for change - this word comes to mind because it is what worries me most, as so many of people's rights and liberties are under attack.

My name is Fred, my word is democracy.

Expand full comment
Linda Pierce's avatar

My word for change is Believe

Expand full comment
Linda Pierce's avatar

Since I discovered ee cummings as a teenager, I’ve loved his poem “in Just-spring” So quirky and evocative!

Expand full comment
Julie York's avatar

I'm Julie York and my word for change is respect, love, kindness, and consideration for each other. I wish that I had a poem to share, but I mostly write Fiction. The last thing I wrote about my relatives and grandparents was my first non-fiction piece.

Expand full comment
Writer Pilgrim by So Elite's avatar

I'm writer pilgrim and my word for change is love and kindness. It has to get back to the basics. Thank you for posting on poetry. You gotta love poetry!

Expand full comment
David Picariello's avatar

Thanks to you Jesse for recognizing poetry as an art form.

luv always

davpi3.14

Expand full comment
Yoshi Watanabe's avatar

My name is Yoshi, and my word for change is respect. The reason is that I learned from Donny Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, and The Staple Singers.

Expand full comment