{"id":8231,"date":"2014-04-03T13:32:45","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T17:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=8231"},"modified":"2014-04-03T13:32:46","modified_gmt":"2014-04-03T17:32:46","slug":"poetry-seeing-and-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2014\/04\/poetry-seeing-and-connection.html","title":{"rendered":"poetry, seeing, and connection"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"national<\/a>
courtesy poets.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I adore poetry, as anyone who knows me knows. Actually, you don’t even have to know me — you can just be sitting next to me on a plane (I’m often reading poetry), or standing by me in a bookstore (cruising the poetry shelves). You might be my letter carrier, bringing me poetry magazines. Or, if you tell me it’s okay, you might be reading this blog during April…<\/p>\n

Because I’d like to post poetry — mine, classic, favourites, obscure but worth rescuing. And I need to know how you feel about that. And just in case, here’s a short justification, tying poetry (the reading of it, the writing of it):<\/p>\n

Poetry — all art, really — connects us. Offers us the experiences of another to consider, experiences sifted through the sieves of imagery and compression. Reading and writing poetry both help us to see<\/em> better: to observe the details in the world around us, and to be more aware of how those details shift when seen through the eyes of another.<\/p>\n

\"courtesy<\/a>
courtesy Google<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you love songs, if their lyrics sometimes speak for you when emotions thicken your throat and words are hard to come by, you’re already halfway to being a poet. And you certainly should be reading poetry! It’s the heart’s own language.<\/p>\n

So let me know what you think. I’m going to take license, and post one today I dearly love, by a wonderful, well-loved American poet, Elizabeth Bishop. Here’s her poem (A villanelle, no less! But you’ll still like it… \ud83d\ude42 ) One Art<\/em>:<\/p>\n

One Art<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;<\/div>\n
so many things seem filled with the intent<\/div>\n
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster<\/div>\n
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.<\/div>\n
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:<\/div>\n
places, and names, and where it was you meant<\/div>\n
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or<\/div>\n
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.<\/div>\n
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,<\/div>\n
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.<\/div>\n
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2014Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture<\/div>\n
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident<\/div>\n
the art of losing’s not too hard to master<\/div>\n
though it may look like (Write<\/i> it!) like disaster.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

I adore poetry, as anyone who knows me knows. Actually, you don’t even have to know me — you can just be sitting next to me on a plane (I’m often reading poetry), or standing by me in a bookstore (cruising the poetry shelves). You might be my letter carrier, bringing me poetry magazines. Or,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[317,22,58],"tags":[11,1181,1187,262,485,1263,1190,1201],"class_list":["post-8231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-poetry-writing-month","category-poetry","category-writing","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-elizabeth-bishop","tag-national-poetry-writing-month","tag-poetry","tag-writing"],"yoast_head":"\npoetry, seeing, and connection - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I adore poetry, as anyone who knows me knows. 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