I'm trying something new, taking a risk this month - participating in
#VerseLove with Sarah Donovan,
hoping to write poetry every day this April.
Before I wrote today's poem, I thought about all my heroes. Here are quotes that I carry with me, with great joy, every day:
"I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us." - Anne Lamott
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou
"Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done." - Bryan Stevenson
"There are no great things, only small things with great love." - Mother Theresa
"Every day, think as you wake up, I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it." - Dalai Lama
My poem follows -
compassion it.
My bumper sticker
implies and explains,
who I am,what I try to do,
what I believe.
Each of us is hurting
in some way,
big or small.
Love deeply,
meet their eyes,
laugh together,
desire to love, and
to be loved.
Work hard,
with passion,
do justice,
seek to know,
be curious, and
wonder.
Travel widely,
and see,
how wrapped up in one another
we really are, and
really should be.
Take action,
even tiny steps,
fall on your face,
get up,
go again.
Give space,
reflect, and
write.
compassion it.
glenda funk - from Sarah Donovan website:
ReplyDeleteMaureen,
I’m so thrilled you’re here. I love the ambiguity in the bumper sticker w/ no antecedent for “it.” How perfect! This poem describes you as I know you through your writing. I particularly love the image of wrapping ourselves around other people: see, / how wrapped up in one another / we really are, and / really should be.” We need one another. Thank you.
—glenda
Mo Daley - from Sarah Donovan website:
ReplyDeleteMaureen, I feel like your short lines with simple directives are a call to action. I feel a sense of urgency when I read your poem. It makes me want to be a better person.
gayle sands - from Sarah Donovan website:
ReplyDeleteCompassion it–what a lovely thought. And it leaves it wide, wide open. Something to remember…
Rachel Stephens - from Sarah Donovan website:
ReplyDeleteMmm I love this. What a sweet bumper sticker. I love “meet their eyes, / laugh together, / desire to love, and / to be loved.” I think this is especially important right now in the middle of all this social distancing craziness… we still need each other, we still need these human connections. Thank you!