Just got back from Boston late last night where I had the pleasure of meeting Sa’ila and ABD from other|matters.
Am exhausted from a wonderful trip, down with a cold, madly preparing for a meeting on Wednesday but oh-so-happy to be home.
I hope you are all well too – I missed you!
Enjoy the poem!
—
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
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March 25, 2008 at 8:56 pm
maximus mercury
Salam Baraka! I just read the poem that inspired your other|matters post. What fun. I’ve never actually read e.e. cummings before – poetry is somehow more of a group sport for me, and ever since I left my group of people where we read poetry, I have been rather barren in that dept. My volumes lie unloved if I have no one to read them out loud with. Thanks so much for the regular poetry postings, including this one. It really helps me reunite with a love of mine that I myself don’t know very well.
Actually, this reminds me of smth else on this subject that I have been meaning to write to you: I also love poetry in song. Recently enjoyed YouTube clips of Sarkozy’s new wife (the model) whose most recent career move is to set Yeats to music. It’s not bad at all.
In your list of life’s to dos, you mentioned the importance of memorizing poetry. I have found that I can consistently memorize poetry long term mostly if it is set to music. The music augments the splendor of the verse & it helps me remember and sound out forgotten words as long as I can replay the tune in my head. (Actually, ditto for hymns.) Also, you’ve written about the magic of reclaiming/speaking/hearing/feeling Urdu (or whatever one’s native language is). So, to tie these together, one of my treasured CDs is the soundtrack from the Mirza Ghalib film (w. Naseeruddin Shah) – it comprises portions of his ghazzals set to music. Fantastic. Have you heard it?
March 28, 2008 at 11:30 am
Baraka
Salaam MM:
I love e.e. cummings! Three of my favorite poems by him are here , here, and here.
And yes, I agree, music makes everything easier to retain. Thus the clutter of jingles and pop songs in my head!
I have those CDs from the Ghalib film – they’re amazing!
Warmly,
Baraka
March 28, 2008 at 1:09 pm
maximus mercury
oh yes – I know & love “I carry your heart with me” as well! The others are new to me – thank you for sharing!