{"id":1466,"date":"2011-09-01T21:26:14","date_gmt":"2011-09-02T01:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/?p=1466"},"modified":"2011-09-01T21:27:29","modified_gmt":"2011-09-02T01:27:29","slug":"september-1st-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2011\/09\/september-1st-2.html","title":{"rendered":"September 1st ~"},"content":{"rendered":"

We must love one another or die…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

~ September 1, 1939 by W. H. Auden<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>He’s an unlikely mentor for a middle-aged female writer & teacher, this fiercely cynical, battered gay British poet. Yet every September 1st, I take out this poem and read it — often to my classes, as well. No one better captures the despair that washes over so many of us when we look around at today’s politics, today’s horrifically polarised and darkly self-centred world.<\/p>\n

And yet, at the centre of his work, there is this stubborn spark of hope, a heart that still believes in possibility. It’s this, I think, that draws me to him. That, and the always fresh craftsmanship of a consummate word-smith. But poetry is more than craft — it’s also a kind of magic that translates our own Byzantine hearts into something we can (almost) understand.<\/p>\n

So today, I offer this poem<\/a> that always comforts my beginner’s heart. Enjoy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We must love one another or die… ~ September 1, 1939 by W. H. Auden He’s an unlikely mentor for a middle-aged female writer & teacher, this fiercely cynical, battered gay British poet. Yet every September 1st, I take out this poem and read it — often to my classes, as well. No one better…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,58],"tags":[175,173,11,1181,174],"class_list":["post-1466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-poetry","category-writing","tag-175","tag-auden","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-september-1"],"yoast_head":"\nSeptember 1st ~ - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We must love one another or die... ~ September 1, 1939 by W. H. 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Years spent living on the margins - in places with exotic names and food shortages - have left her with a visceral response to folks \u2018without,\u2019 as well as a desire to live her Buddhism in an engaged fashion. She\u2019s a writer and a teacher, the former director of a federal non-profit for teachers who write. She believes that if we talk to each other, we can learn to love each other (but she's still learning how). And she believes in tea. 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