Red Letters
In ancient Rome, feast days were indicated on the calendar by red letters.
To my mind, all poetry and art serves as a reminder that every day we wake together beneath the sun is a red-letter day.
––Steven Ratiner
Hello to all! I’m away on a writing retreat––but here’s a very early Red Letter many of you will have missed (and the rest, I’m sure, will savor again.)
Flashback Friday:
Red Letter Poem #28
“And so poetry is not a shopping list, a casual disquisition on the colors of he sky, a soporific daydream, or bumpersticker sloganeering. Poetry is a political action undertaken for the sake of information, the faith, the exorcism, and the lyrical invention, that telling the truth makes possible. Poetry means taking control of the language of your life.”
––June Jordan
The list poem is part of an ancient and honorable tradition. A cataloging of images, names, or events, you find the technique used to great effect in the Bible and Homer; Walt Whitman often used his unreeling litanies to make the diverse conglomeration of his America sing! onto the page. So, in honor of Alice Kociemba’s Red Letter contribution, a list:
* How fortifying, to read Alice’s words of gratitude when the daily news is driving us to distraction.
* How sly of the poet to make her phrasing seem so casual and off-handed, even as its rhythms carefully build and release, plucking at the strings of our own taut nerves.
* How generous, to remind us that the inconsequential moments of our days are still our days! And may actually reveal quiet depths of feeling.
* And why does the heart plummet, just a bit, when she mentions “a single cup”?
* And when she risks addressing that “someone” who might be “taking care”, I began wondering what my someone was like – and how desperate the night would feel to a person who suspected no one accompanied them toward that dawn.
* And I must offer my thanks to her for bringing this “Thank you” poem to a close with a startling image that feels both lavish and utterly true.
* And I should let you know that Alice is the author of Bourne Bridge (Turning Point) and the chapbook, Death of Teaticket Hardware. She’s published widely in literary journals and anthologies.
* And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that she is the founding director of Calliope Poetry which hosts poetry readings and writing workshops on Cape Cod, MA where she works tirelessly to keep their mission as her guide: Appreciate. Create. Celebrate.
Thank you
for today, for reminding me at midnight
to put the laundry in the washer
and for no bad dreams,
and for waking me up at 3 AM to put those clothes in the dryer,
and for breathing,
and for a quick return to dreamless sleep
and for waking me up before the alarm,
and for remembering to set the timer on the coffee pot the night before,
and for having enough Mind Body Soul to make a single cup
and for that feeling that someone,
even the ghost of me,
is taking care of me
and for dawn when sudden snow outlined the limbs of trees
and for silence, which is white
before it sputters gray,
and for being stuck behind the sander,
doing 20 down Woods Hole Road,
and for not hurrying, not worrying,
not pressuring myself to be on time.
And thank you for taking that crown of thorns I’ve fashioned
from my barbed attempts at perfection
and turning it into a tiara of stars—
-- Alice Kociemba
Red Letters 3.0
* If you would like to receive these poems every Friday in your own in-box – or would like to write in with comments or submissions – send correspondence to:
steven.arlingtonlaureate@gmail.com
* To learn more about the origins of the Red Letter Project, check out an essay I wrote for Arrowsmith Magazine:
https://www.arrowsmithpress.com/community-of-voices
and the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene
http://dougholder.blogspot.com
* For updates and announcements about Red Letter projects and poetry readings, please follow me on Twitter
@StevenRatiner
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