Meter Monday

I would like to apologize in advance for anyone who doesn't know about a *wee* little thing I have for Richard Armitage. I think after you hear him read some Coleridge you'll understand. 

xoxo,

Lucy.

Meter Monday: Jewel

Jewel has been one of my favorite musicians since I first heard "You Were Meant for Me". Yes, it was the line about making a smiley face with the eggs that hooked me. 

When I was fifteen I bought "A Night Without Armor" as a Christmas present to myself. A lot of the poems it contained went right over my lovely, innocent head. But over the years I figured out what the darker content actually meant, and also appreciated the beautiful, triumphant ones even more. 

Tonight I picked up the dog-eared, love worn book and opened it to the first bookmarked page. 

Certain Girls

I am fascinated by
those certain girls
     you know the ones
the women that are always girls
their tiny bodies like
neglected willow trees
     controlled and contorted
which may blow away with
the slightest dissappointment 

Meter Monday: Mary Oliver

When I was in college there were many times that I needed something to lift my up by my bootstraps and keep me going. As I worked the reference desk in the library, I kept finding hints to read the work of Mary Oliver. I followed the breadcrumbs left by trusted travelers that went before me. And I found the pieces of nourishment I needed in several of her poems. One of them being:

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice--

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do--

determined to save

the only life you could save.