Down near the bottom
of the crossed-out list
of things you have to do today,
between “green thread”
and “broccoli” you find
that you have penciled “sunlight.”
Resting on the page, the word
is as beautiful, it touches you
as if you had a friend
and sunlight were a present
he had sent you from some place distant
as this morning — to cheer you up,
and to remind you that,
among your duties, pleasure
is a thing,
that also needs accomplishing.
~ from “The Word,” by Tony Hoagland
The silence spoke loudly of silence, and the rivers kept speaking, of rivers, of boulders and air. ~ Jane Hirshfield
I drove from Berkeley to Big Sur this week, determined not to go faster than 60 mph. I had just paid for my first $4 gallon of gas and it freaked me out. I just can’t imagine spending $60 every week or so to fill my 15 gallon tank. And I know that one great…
There’s something about a gas station that makes me stupid. I know I’m not the only one, because every new car boasts some kind of technology — even if it’s just a plastic string — to keep us from driving away with our gas cap loose on the roof. There are also fixes for more…
March 19 is a very special day. It’s Mo’s birthday! Okay, so it’s my birthday, too. But for several years, I was blessed to share this day with Ms. Moreka Jolar in a magical spot on the island of Moloka’i. When Mo is in residence at Hui Ho’olana Retreat Center, she manages kitchen and garden…
The other day, my dad sent me an email correcting one of my posts, Snake Oil, in which I mentioned that I inherited his goofy bow legs and something odd about his teeth. To set the record straight, his feet actually point out like a duck and his knees point more or less toward each…
It’s been a good time on My Yahoo!. Almost every morning, there’s news of Barack Obama’s increasing momentum in the presidential primaries. It’s exciting to support a candidate that might actually have the opportunity to do something. But it wasn’t delegate counts or debate news that first caught my eye today, nor was it the…
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thank you
I love this, thank you!
Thank you for sharing this. Good stuff.
Oh my! That is almost as delicious as your jam!
Sweet, Leslie. Thank you for taking the time to visit and read.
Tony Hoagland is my favorite poet on earth, I think. I absolutely love him. We have every book he’s had publishes, and we had his poem “The Time Wars” read at our wedding! I got to hear him read last year and meet him afterwards…one of the highlights of the year for me!
I love this piece that you’ve posted here. Thanks for the reminder (which I often need) to keep what’s important – really important – on the old to-do list. :)
Thanks for sharing that, Aimee. I just found that if you go to this link, you can find an amazing collection of his poems and quotes from people who blog on Tumblr. It’s kind of wonderful.
that is really weird. i left a comment on here when you first posted. now it’s gone.
you moderated me! ;-)
Look, look, there it is! For some reason, Akismet thought you were spamming me. Bad, bad Akismet. I would never moderate you, so I’m glad you came back and said something. :-)