Poetry Prayer #1

There are many things I'd like to make a habit of but without accountability I know that it's unlikely I'll keep up with it. I'll binge and forget and binge and forget in a way that doesn't lead me anywhere but in circles.

Today I went to listen to Sara's chorus sing their winter program. This time the theme was poetry set to music. There were a lot of quite well known poets represented and some that weren't as easy to identify. The music spanned centuries.

One of the things I always wish I was doing is reading more poetry. I love it but find it takes a lot of concentration which is at odds with the super fast way I love to read. Around National Poetry Month (April) I usually spend a day figuring out which poems I want to share but then I fall off the wagon again. As I listened to these lovely poems sung I lamented my old familiar ways until I thought of something better. I think I shall share a poem every Sunday here on ye olde blogge. It seems like a Sabbathy sort of thing to do without being churchy which isn't something I'm into.

I'm going to start off with an e. e. cummings that I heard today. It was set to music by Eric Whitacre. Having grown up near the ocean and finding that both frightening and comforting this burrowed into my heart.

maggie and milly and molly and may

maggie and milly and molly and may 
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang 
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing 
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone 
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me) 
it's always ourselves we find in the sea