Welcome to Poetry Friday! I have been back home in Uganda less than a week after a short time in the United States. We're getting ready to go back to school next Tuesday, so there's lots to do, but I'll take frequent breaks to round up your posts the old fashioned way. Leave your link in the comments so we can all enjoy what you've chosen to share.
I read a lot of sad pieces as I tried to pick my poem for today. I'm thinking a lot about what it is to be an immigrant, and what it is to be unwelcome and sent away, as I watch the news about the cancellation of Haitian TPS. In my mind it was all mixing with the Odyssey movie that we saw the day before we left the US, and the law of hospitality which is a central theme. But I finally settled on something a little more cheerful instead.
For the Bird Singing Before Dawn
Kim Stafford
Some people presume to be hopeful
when there is no evidence for hope,
to be happy when there is no cause.
Let me say now, I’m with them.
In deep darkness on a cold twig
in a dangerous world, one first
little fluff lets out a peep, a warble,
a song—and in a little while, behold:
the first glimmer comes, then a glow
filters through the misty trees,
then the bold sun rises, then
everyone starts bustling about.
And that first crazy optimist, can we
forgive her for thinking, dawn by dawn,
“Hey, I made that happen!
And oh, life is so fine.”
You can read some of Stafford's thoughts on this poem here.
