The pre-poem essay had me in tears. Especially this; Some seeds only germinate in darkness, and I want my life to be a whole garden, an entire ecosystem, not a monocrop. My patience is far from bottomless, but I figured I could spend a day in wordless darkness, trusting something to emerge.
Thank you so much, Catherine! I like the thought that each time you or I or someone else is wandering in the woods, feeling whatever is asking to be felt, there are other kindred spirits doing exactly the same thing. Maybe we're all just taking shifts? Like the universe needs a certain number of souls feeling sadness/joy/wonder/rage/hope in the woods at any given moment, so it pages us when it's our turn.
Oh, Lisa. Your brain + your soul = illuminating beauty.
I made a Spotify playlist many years ago called “qarrtsiluni” which consists of fave episodes (at the time) of the On Being podcast, including the one with Teju Cole in which he introduced me to that delicious word.
I will send it to you in exchange for your Word doc full archive of Incurably Human. 🤍
I love that you already know the word and hold it so dear! I'm absolutely in on the deal. I'll send you the archive, and I'd love to listen to that episode!
I've really missed being immersed in this community. Thank you for today's prompt, Lisa.
This poem is titled "I need a word for"
when you look up at the sky and
you feel small in the most comforting way,
that feeling you get when you realize
you've known something in your bones
that has only just broken through
to the surface of your consciousness,
a thought you didn't know you were
looking for until it burst out of hiding
sure that you were finally ready to play,
to say, "oh, yes, that's you up there,"
and "do you remember what it tastes like
to *be* the Milky Way?" and
"yes, I can see that everything is a mess,
but I'm always here
for when you forget."
What a delicious poem, A! I want words for these things, too. "Do you remember what it tastes like to *be* the Milk Way?" So good.
The pre-poem essay had me in tears. Especially this; Some seeds only germinate in darkness, and I want my life to be a whole garden, an entire ecosystem, not a monocrop. My patience is far from bottomless, but I figured I could spend a day in wordless darkness, trusting something to emerge.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Debbi! I'm wishing you a whole garden of a life, too. 💜
Love everything about this. Not least knowing there are others wandering the woods as I do in sadness and in joy...
I particularly love this word you highlighted
Tūrangawaewae
a place to stand,
connected, empowered, home
off to google it and find a little more out about it... x
Thank you so much, Catherine! I like the thought that each time you or I or someone else is wandering in the woods, feeling whatever is asking to be felt, there are other kindred spirits doing exactly the same thing. Maybe we're all just taking shifts? Like the universe needs a certain number of souls feeling sadness/joy/wonder/rage/hope in the woods at any given moment, so it pages us when it's our turn.
Oh, Lisa. Your brain + your soul = illuminating beauty.
I made a Spotify playlist many years ago called “qarrtsiluni” which consists of fave episodes (at the time) of the On Being podcast, including the one with Teju Cole in which he introduced me to that delicious word.
I will send it to you in exchange for your Word doc full archive of Incurably Human. 🤍
I love that you already know the word and hold it so dear! I'm absolutely in on the deal. I'll send you the archive, and I'd love to listen to that episode!
Here's an English word we need. It would be a noun:
.
A thing both absurd and crushingly normal,
as when I quit my walk along the canyon road
.
after the white truck passes too slowly,
letting that one hackle drive me
.
straight up the mountain. I highstep rock
and bramble like my sisters the deer,
.
snagging and slipping, and it is not until
I am descending cobbled switchbacks
.
built from entire generations of the hunted
that it occurs to me to be angry.
.
Below: the road, smooth
and untroubled as a man,
knowing only the one side
of the crosshairs.
This one made my hackles rise - or gave me goosebumps, anyway. This is really powerful, Bekah!