Poetry to start the week…
The Word
– Tony Hoagland
Down near the bottom
of the crossed-out list
of things you have to do today,
between “green thread”
and “broccoli” you find
that you have penciled “sunlight.”
Resting on the page, the word
is as beautiful, it touches you
as if you had a friend
and sunlight were a present
he had sent you from some place distant
as this morning—to cheer you up,
and to remind you that,
among your duties, pleasure
is a thing,
that also needs accomplishing
Do you remember?
that time and light are kinds
of love, and love
is no less practical
than a coffee grinder
or a safe spare tire?
Tomorrow you may be utterly
without a clue
but today you get a telegram,
from the heart in exile
proclaiming that the kingdom
still exists,
the king and queen alive,
still speaking to their children,
—to any one among them
who can find the time,
to sit out in the sun and listen.
~
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.
Stay in touch
Sign up to be notified of new posts and updates from une femme d’un certain âge.
Wonderful. “Love is no less practical than a coffee grinder.” A beautiful poem to reflect on as we set our priorities for the coming days.
How did you know this is exactly what I needed to read, right NOW? Amazing. I even have a list to the left of me right now, to which I added “sunlight” for fun. I love your blog; intelligent, inspirational, sane, sensible, stylish, funny, helpful, realistic, imaginative. Brava and thanks!
Just don’t forget the sunscreen.
With all the trials you’ve had lately, you’ve found time to cheer us all with this wonderful poem — so typical of you! Thanks for the beauty — may you live in the sunshine this week!
Thank you for this. It made my day…and I passed the poem along to some friends having a hard time.
Lovely poem to start the week. The Autumn sun is shining here in London and I am just off to enjoy it on my bike
Beautiful and so true. We could all do with a little more ‘pleasure.’
Thank you so much for the right poem at the right time. As for car advice, I love my Subaru Outback. Its a very comfortable ride( both in back and in front), has almost no maintenance, and holds a ton of stuff.
A lovely poem, thank you for the reminder to accomplish pleasure, not just tasks. I hope this week goes better for you Pseu.
I really loved this poem. Thanks for sharing it!
xo
Alexandra Grecco
Thank you for the poem.
I often use poetry in my coaching work — and this one is perfect for people who are looking for help because they feel overwhelmed. I hope you don’t mind if I share it.
Beautiful poem that speaks an important truth. Thank you for sharing.