Of What Use Is Poetry?/0 Comments/in /by

 

wild roseAt the Chuckanut Sandstone Reading last week, our moderator, Betty Scott, shared this quotation, along with her thoughts about the usefulness of poetry. I wanted to share this extremely useful quote with you. It’s from Marilyn Sewell and Claiming the Spirit Within, an anthology of spiritual poetry :

“To claim a self is to claim the holiness within. Such claiming has nothing to do with striving, with competing, with winning. It has nothing to do with egotism or self-aggrandizement. Rather, it has to do with recognizing and owning one’s power, and using that power well in the world.” (51)

What if we all spent time today recognizing and owning our power, and using that power well in the world?

 

Ah! The quote I wanted to put with that picture!

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I’ve posted this quote before. One of my Creative Nonfiction students used it in a paper.

“To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each others’ hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time.”
-Clara Ortega
(The picture is of me and my siblings.)

“a world possibly not born until they arrive”

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Image

My to-do list has — for about three weeks — had at the top of it, “Upload pictures from Leavenworth trip.” My husband’s two brothers and his three cousins, plus assorted spouses, met in Leavenworth toward the end of September, stayed at a lodge and cooked amazing food. I felt very lucky to be included. I think it was Judy who gave me an assignment to write about them. 

For now, this blog post will have to do. And here’s a quote that I think will help to hold my place: 

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anaïs Nin, from a diary entry in The Diary of Anaïs Nin

 

Chuckanut Sandstone, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m.

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Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. I’ll be reading poems at Chuckanut Sandstone Writer’s Theater. Visit their blog to learn more.

Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater ~ Open Mic ~ monthly

Everyone is welcome to read original writings. ~ Open mic (All styles and topics are welcome.) Bellingham, WA at the Firehouse Cafe, 14th and Harris (Bellingham, near Fairhaven)~ Open mic (All styles and topics are welcome.) Every second Wednesday.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013- 7:00 PM
Featured poet: Bethany Reid will read for the first 30 minutes. New book: Sparrow