Last night my writing group met over Zoom. It had been a long time -- I'm not even sure how long. "Have you written anything?" asked C, and I started to hang my head and say no, out of habit, and then I remembered, wait, yes I have!
"I've done two months of daily posts on my blog," I said proudly, starting to wonder if trying to post daily was why I have been feeling so stressed and overwhelmed lately. (Narrator's voice: "But it wasn't the daily posting that was the problem. In fact, the daily posting was one of the things keeping Ruth sane in a very trying period of her life.")
Today I fear I have nothing new to share with you, so I am going to link you to my two months of daily posting and call it good. In October I posted a daily bird poem (Birdtober). And in November I posted a daily gratitude haiku (Gratiku).
This week I wanted to write about mikans, a citrus fruit grown in the south of Haiti and usually everywhere at this time of year (that's the Japanese word -- long story...). Because of the gang activity on the roads between here and the south, though, this year we're not seeing many. My husband was given some for his birthday last week, and we enjoyed eating them so much. I even wrote a Gratiku about them here, but I want to write more. I read a Naomi Shihab Nye poem this week about onions and thought I could maybe use it as a mentor text. For now I'll just have to share her poem, because I haven't written mine yet. (Of course it is better now, as a vague cloud in my mind, than the actual finished poem will be!)
Naomi Shihab Nye's poem begins:
When I think how far the onion has traveled
just to enter my stew today, I could kneel and praise
all small forgotten miracles...
You can read the whole thing here.
In December, we'll see if I can manage to write anything at all. I hope to share more on my blog in January about the craziness going on right now in my life, but for now suffice it to say that things are a bit chaotic. It will have to be enough to read snippets of other people's work, and to try to notice at least some of the "small forgotten miracles" around me.
8 comments:
Thanks for the Nye poem; one of my favorites. And yes, you HAVE been writing steadily on your blog -- that definitely counts! Good luck with all the life changes, and thanks for sharing about the new-to-me mikan.
That is a stunning poem by Nye about one of my favorite things, the onion. Love pondering the history which only adds to the pleasure I feel using it.
What a great poem that is. Thank you for sharing it. We've been grateful for onions here, too, as we've had French onion soup a couple of times lately. I didn't know about mikans. Interesting!
found poem:
trying to post daily
have been feeling overwhelmed
but the daily posting
was the thing keeping sane
in a very trying period
all hail the translucent layers that give themselves up for the sake of the whole,
object of worship.
There is a quote on the edge of the shelf where my printer sits: "All you can do is all you can do And all you can do is enough." --Art Williams
Here's to the praise of small miracles, both forgotten and remembered! Best wishes in this month of change and chaos.
I'd like you to know that YOU are enough. All you do and write and share is enough. Actually you are more than enough. I just looked up and saw Mary Lee quoted this same idea from Art Williams and I don't know that one. I get mine from the incredible actress who was the original Ariel on Broadway and then was Christine in Phantom, Sierra Boggess. I fell into following her on Instagram and I really love all that she is. But her big thing is her kindness and her signature philosophy of "you are enough." Plus by example she shares her love of her cats, nature, her figure skating lessons where she is very good and getting better all the time. (I always wished I could ice skate....I grew up admiring Carol Heiss.....but skated like twice in my life, there were no places near where I lived. So I never got to try.) She is an encourager and for someone who has a "following" she is truly a regular person in so many ways, which I admire. Like I admire you. One foot in front of the other. Looking forward to your January blog postings. Many hugs, Ruth.
Your narrator's voice is SPOT ON, Ruth! Kudos to you. And thanks for the NSN fix today. :)
Wishing you moments of quiet and peace in the chaos, Ruth. Writing poems DAILY for TWO straight months is a hug accomplishment. Congratulations!
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