November is a set table
Harvest is here
and the fruits of our labor,
the results of our efforts,
the long months of digging in the dirt,
all produces great fruit
worth celebrating
Friends, families, and neighbors
gather around with smiles
while words like thankfulness and gratitude
are kept present on our tongues
We break bread and pour the cup
We taste, we eat
And our bodies and hearts together
are full
A love poem for my wife, Betony.
“Distance”
My Love, there is a distance between us
The same found between all of us
Space, void from one to the next
And you know,
You and I have chosen to close the distance
To draw near each other
to know and to be known
lessening the gap between
two such people
It’s within the distance
there is fertile ground
to struggle, dig, anticipate
bare fruit
This space pushes, pulls, quakes
grows, prunes, and grows again
And You and I
have given ourselves over to this endeavor
to let it drive
and nurture us
the rest of our days.
Without it there would be
You and I
without
the birth of us
without the birth of
Love,
distance’s gift
And I am thankful,
for You and I
my Love
I’m thankful for us
bird understander
BY CRAIG ARNOLD
Of many reasons I love you here is one
the way you write me from the gate at the airport
so I can tell you everything will be alright
so you can tell me there is a bird
trapped in the terminal all the people
ignoring it because they do not know
what do with it except to leave it alone
until it scares itself to death
it makes you terribly terribly sad
You wish you could take the bird outside
and set it free or (failing that)
call a bird-understander
to come help the bird
All you can do is notice the bird
and feel for the bird and write
to tell me how language feels
impossibly useless
but you are wrong
You are a bird-understander
better than I could ever be
who make so many noises
and call them song
These are your own words
your way of noticing
and saying plainly
of not turning away
from hurt
you have offered them
to me I am only
giving them back
if only I could show you
how very useless
they are not
Arnold, Craig (2009). the bird understander. from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/182920
Welcome to the month of February and to our online Almanac. It’s good to navigate these pages together for the good life.
For our Giants & Pilgrims February Almanac theme we chose the word “Send”. Most of the pages deal in this theme: the way we communicate to each other, the letters and notes we give, how love and care is something easy to feel, but hard to say. We felt this would be so appropriate to talk about within this month!
Here’s a poem written to expound upon these ideas. Encouraging the gathering of our words to go out to those who need to hear them.
February is a written letter
Words forming at the tip of our tongue
about to be spoken
We believe in this edge
of winter
Bending towards the promise
of spring
And so we dare to
Tell, share, say, send
this love so easily felt;
so hard to put into words
Against the fear we intend
to send it anyways