Death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate.
Ambrose Bierce
I hold an ache inside my chest that should never have been allowed to exist. I built a box inside of a box, and yet another box to hold them both. All three boxes lock with a key. My plan was to place my ache inside these boxes and then to bury them deep in the earth, in a cemetery that has no name, but I know now that I never will. As I stare at these boxes that I made with my own hands, by my own choice, the sun rises and sets. Another day.
jobe
There are inanimate things out there loving each other, a poem by francine j. harris
The past is gone
– may I be able to find the strength
to fully live in the present moment
looking up the sky is a color
where blue meets silver
like a steel ship on a clear clean sea
jobe
"Yes I loved them, those gatherings late at night,—"
Yes I loved them, those gatherings late at night,—
the small table, glasses with frosted sides,
fragrant vapor rising from black coffee,
the fireplace, red with powerful winter heat,
the biting gaiety of a literary joke,
and the first helpless and frightening glance of my love.
by Anna Akhmatova, 1889—1966
translated by Jane Kenyon, 1947—1995
1945
After the nazis were finally driven back
out from the soviet union
anna akhmatova read her poems
to the wounded and the dying
although well into middle-age
they say she was more beautiful than ever
that she had a glow that was ethereal
and kindness was in the blue of her eyes
can you imagine it
the wounded heroes of mother russia filled
with the rich poignancy that leaps
from the verse of the queen
jobe
Adieu to Norman, Bon Jour to Joan and Jean-Paul, a poem by Frank O’Hara
Something rises out of the east – a new day
like an idea being formed
or like a child being born
light in the sky – life on the earth
jobe
Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits.
Carl Sandburg
I was just a kid when I first read Carl Sandburg. My school library had his ‘Chicago Poems,’ and I began with that. My favorites are ‘The People, Yes’ for poetry and the full 6 volume edition of his Lincoln biography, 2 volumes subtitled ‘The Prairie Years’ and 4 volumes of ‘The War Years.’ There were other editions, condensed. Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore had the full 6 volumes. I read them all. It is the only place where I have even seen the full set. I have a fair amount of Lincoln trivia as a result.
Carl Sandburg spent about a decade on the Lincoln books. He was totally engrossed, and nearly filled his barn with his notes, research materials, and early drafts. His wife tried to play a joke on him by hiring an actor to dress as Lincoln and to meet Sandburg in the woods where he liked to take a morning walk. Sandburg just said, “Good morning, Mr. President,” and walked past ‘Lincoln’ like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I have a fair bit of Sandburg trivia, too.
Today it was shower time for the planet earth
at least the part of the earth where I live
a long steady rain washing it all
the sky, the trees, the ground - all was washed clean
it feels like a fresh start to me
even putah creek and cache creek were flushed out
and it’s a good thing
I’ve always heard that cleanliness is next to godliness
sister – pass me that soap
jobe
Think before you speak. Read before you think.
Fran Lebowitz
Thank you for reading this. I intend to keep doing this until either death or incapacitation stops me. Or perhaps until ICE snatches me up for having a Cuban grandfather, in-laws from China, and having never voted for a Republican in my life. I own banned books, too. For paid subscribers there is more below, including Conrad Aiken reading one of his poems and a link to poem by Lucille Clifton.
jobe
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