(after “Today, When I Could do Nothing” by Jane Hirshfield)
Tracey has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Tangles & Tails.
Poetry Friday: Today
(after “Today, When I Could do Nothing” by Jane Hirshfield)
Tracey has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Tangles & Tails.
A(nother) Year of Reading 
I always feel more confident about a poem when I write beside a known poet. Who better than Jane Hirschfield? I heard her read at the Dodge Poetry Festival years ago. She is a beautiful soul. Your poem reflects a kindness in you that I see, that ability to care deeply for the smallest of things, a stitch, a fly, a tiny insect.
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Mary Lee, how wonder to care for the miniscule, even if it would normally be considered a nuisance. This year, we have had a few stink bugs migrate indoors, and I have ushered them back out into the cold to find their way (probably straight back into our house). Now that I think about it, it might be the same guy that I keep shuffling around!
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*wonderful
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Such a touching poem, Mary Lee. You captured the sense of connection like Jane Hirschfield did in her poem. Thank you for sharing it here.
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Thanks for sharing your poem and Jane H’s. How can we know what another creature wants? We don’t, do we? Except survival. Another day.
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We have life in common with the smallest creatures and maybe kindness and care simply recognizes this and encourages us to tread lightly. Thanks for your poem and for linking us to Hirshfield’s.
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I often tell others to ‘pay attention’, and. now I think I’ll share your poem as on precious example. We ARE all in this together, are we not? Thanks, Mary Lee, you so often inspire me to look at small things.
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Such a great follow-on poem after reading Amy VL’s post. She acknowledged with gratitude all that a tree had been and now you kindly acknowledge the tiniest dust mote. Thus is the heart of poets!
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I can tell that you and Jane are at the start of a beautiful relationship. This is such a great example of how to take a small moment and explode it. Thanks for always noticing and writing and sharing.
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Ha! Love it…I had a similar poem at the end of 2023. Such a tiny, small thing–even considered “trash” still has a place in this world with me/us. Wonderful meditation on a simple moment.
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A walking mote. The “rich ecosystem of the trash bag.” Your poem made me smile this morning, Mary Lee. This note of kindness is a lovely way to start the weekend.
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Oh, this is lovely. I read yours first, then the Hirshfield poem, then yours again. Both were wonderful reminders of how it can feel to take a tiny moment and nod at the connectedness of everything. In the last few months, life has been so disconcertingly busy that something like killing a spider fell under, “I don’t have time for ….” But over the holidays, my daughter pointed out a teensy spider, descending from the ceiling, Mission Impossible style, and the little guy just looked so unsuspecting, so tiny, so not-in-need-of-killing, so I caught him on a paper towel and ushered him out. He probably found his way back into the warmth of the house right away but at least I felt I had done something kind in a Charlotte’s Webby way. (I notice you didn’t abandon your visitor to the cold. You were kinder than I was. :))
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Hirshfield’s poem is touching with wonderful lines,
“whose ant-heart I could not fathom—
how is your life, I wanted to ask.”
Hope your “tiny speck of a creature” may have made it beyond the bag of detritus…
thanks, Mary Lee!
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I love the feeling of generosity and grace toward a tiny, vulnerable being. How the world needs that. xo
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Mary Lee, I enjoyed your Today poem. It flowed so well right down to the last line. Then, I read the mentor text and realized you took similar turns as Hirschfield, This poem held a small moment that captured my interest. Well done!
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