Thursday, November 27, 2014

On This Thanksgiving Day

Poetry on Gratitude
Denise Levertov:
That Passeth All Understanding - Oblique Prayers
New Directions, New York, 1984, p. 85


 An awe so quiet
I don't know when it began.

A gratitude
had begun
to sing in me.

Was there
some moment
dividing
song from no song?

When does dewfall begin?

When does night
fold its arms over our hearts
to cherish them?

When is daybreak?
Praise Wet Snow Falling Early - 
  - New Directions, New York
(1995)
 Praise wet snow
          falling early.
Praise the shadow
          my neighbor's chimney casts on the tile roof
even this gray October day that should, they say,
have been golden.
                    Praise
the invisible sun burning beyond
          the white cold sky, giving us
light and the chimney's shadow.
Praise
god or the gods, the unknown,
that which imagined us, which stays
our hand,
our murderous hand,
                    and gives us
still,
in the shadow of death,
          our daily life,

          and the dream still
of goodwill, of peace on earth.
Praise
flow and change, night and
the pulse of day.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Tomas Young, R. I. P.

Tomas Young, one of the first Iraq veterans to publicly oppose the war, passed away on Monday, November 10, 2014. He was 34 years old. He was shot and paralyzed shortly after he started his tour of duty. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. May he never be forgotten. Bill Moyers interviewed Phil Donohue and Ellen Spiro about their documentary Body of War, which was about Tomas Young: