A Poem a Day: "The Orange"

"Every day is a fresh beginning,

Listen my soul to the glad refrain.

And, spite of old sorrows

Troubles forecasted

And possible pain,

Take heart with the day and begin again..."

                                    ---Susan Coolidge

I decided to celebrate 2023 by starting the day with a poem. 

I read fast. You may know that about me, but you may not know that I like reading fast. But sometimes I do not. 

"At last the secret is out, as it always must come in the end,

The delicious story is ripe to tell to the intimate friend;

Over the tea-cups and in the square the tongue has its desire;

Still waters run deep, my dear, there’s never smoke without fire.

Behind the corpse in the reservoir, behind the ghost on the links,

Behind the lady who dances and the man who madly drinks,

Under the look of fatigue, the attack of migraine and the sigh

There is always another story, there is more than meets the eye..."

                                                                    ---W. H. Auden

Poetry slows me. Poetry makes me zoom in on each word. Poetry entices me to read, and then read again.

"Lying, thinking

Last night

How to find my soul a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone

I came up with one thing

And I don't believe I'm wrong

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone

Alone, all alone,

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone..."

                                    ---Maya Angelou

There are no cheap words in poetry, no thoughtless spurt of too-sweet icing a-top. Every word counts. 

"When I am an old, old woman I may very well

be living all alone like many another before me

and I rather look forward to the day when I shall have

a tumbledown house on a hill top and behave

just as I wish to. No more need to be proud—

at the tag end of life one is at last allowed

to be answerable to no one. Then I shall wear

a shapeless felt hat clapped on over my white hair,

sneakers with holes for the toes, and a ragged dress..."

                                            ---Kate Barnes

So, then, a poem-ful adventure for the year...

I've compiled my own selection of poems in a Google Doc which I then transformed, after much experimenting, into a little ebook of poems. You might like to take a look here.  

It seems right that I should end this post with a poem, a favorite, "The Orange." Wendy Cope, I hope you will forgive me for sharing it in its entirety. It is, after all, my favorite.

The Orange

"At lunchtime I bought a huge orange

The size of it made us all laugh.

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—

They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange it made me so happy,

As ordinary things often do

Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park

This is peace and contentment. It's new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.

I did all my jobs on my list

And enjoyed them and had some time over.

I love you. I'm glad I exist."

                                    ---Wendy Cope

Hey, you, go read some poetry today.

For more photos, link up at Wordless Wednesday, Comedy Plus, Messymimi's Meanderings, Keith's Ramblings, Create With Joy, Amanda's Books and More, and My Corner of the World.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.