Thankful Thursday: Read and Misread
Everything Lush I Know
I do not know the names of things
but I have lived on figs and grapes
smell of dirt under moon
and moon under threat of rain
everything lush I know
an orchard becoming all orchards
flowers here and here
the earth I have left
every brief home-making
the lot of God blooming into vines
right now then and always
— Kimberly Burwick
As part of my new routine of reading and writing each morning, yesterday I read this poem from Horses in the Cathedral, by Kimberly Burwick, a writer living in Moscow, Idaho.
Despite its brevity, the poem is full, and well, lush. That first line is an immediate hook — I do not know the names of things — and the reverent details and tone transported me easily from the poem to my journal. Energized, I lifted a line — a lot of God blooming into vines — and started a freewrite.
This prompt produced pages of material. Later, I reread the poem and realized it was not a lot of God but the lot of God. But no matter, whatever unfurls the mind and moves the pen.
On this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for poems that arrive and energize.
It's Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to appreciate the people, places, things (and poems) in our lives. Joy contracts and expands in proportion to our gratitude. What makes your world expand?
Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 8:41AM
Reader Comments (4)
*I think the insurance industry is incredibly corrupt, but I'm still grateful to be insured.
*Free lunch
*Pay raises (even tiny ones; it adds up!)
*Taking on new responsibilities at work, and learning new skills.
*My husband making me a baked potato for dinner last night and cutting it into the shape of a heart. It was adorable.
Allyson,
Bless your husband's heart-shaped potato love, and you, for showing up grateful every time.
With appreciation,
Drew
What a lovely poem. Thanks for sharing it.
I'm late to the Thankful Thursday party again, but I'm thankful that our house hunt is over, and I feel so lucky to have enough of everything we really need: food, warmth, shelter.
Never too late for thanks, Molly. : )
Congratulations on finding a home.