A Poem a Day Keeps Sadness Away

The Gift of Poetry

“A valley and above it forests in autumn colors.

A voyager arrives, a map led him here.

Or perhaps memory. Once, long ago, in the sun,

when the first snow fell, riding this way

he felt joy, strong, without reason,

Joy of the eyes. Everything was the rhythm

of shifting trees, of bird in flight,

of a train on the viaduct, a feast of motion.

He returns years later, has no demands.

He wants only one, most precious thing:

to see, purely and simply, without name,

without expectations, fears or hopes,

at the edge where there is no I or not-I.”

                                  “This Only” by Czeslaw Milosz

Poetry is a gift that gives respite from everyday reality. It paints a word-picture, so sparse and deliberate that our eyes see, and our ears hear its clear intention. Just a few perfect poems first thing in the morning can set the day on a right course.

If your only brush with poetry was having to memorize swaths of Pilgrim's Progress in tenth grade English, then you're overdue for the spirit nourishing cadence of line and verse. What could be better than this:

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

and sorry I could not travel both

and be one traveler, long I stood

and looked down one as far as I could

to where it bent in the undergrowth...” (Frost)

Or this:

“I thank you God for most this amazing

day; for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes...” (Cummings)

Before you know it, you are bouncing into the day, with elevated eyes and heart. Unlike anything else, when I wake up feeling down, poetry raises me up. How can you be dour when walking in a beautiful garden like this one:

“A day so happy.

Fog lifted early, I worked in the garden.

Hummingbirds were stopping over honeysuckle flowers.

There was no thing on earth I wanted to possess.

I knew no one worth my envying him.

Whatever evil I had suffered, I forgot.

To think that once I was the same man did not embarrass me.

In my body, I felt no pain.

When straightening up, I saw the blue sea and sails.”

                                       (“Gift” by Czeslaw Milosz)

Happy day, y'all. Read some poetry. You'll feel better for it.

                                   In the spirit,

                                  Jane