These Things: A poem, a song, and WTF is this video!?
Boise State Campus. February 7, 2018.
“We were together. I forget the rest.” - Walt Whitman
So, in the spirit of St. Valentine’s Day here are these things:
To Hold
By Li-Young Lee. This poem is one of my favorite contemporary love poems and can be found in his collection of poems, "Behind My Eyes." You can hear me reading this poem on SoundCloud.
So we're dust. In the meantime, my wife and I
make the bed. Holding opposite edges of the sheet,
we raise it, billowing, then pull it tight,
measuring by eye as it falls into alignment
between us. We tug, fold, tuck. And if I'm lucky,
she'll remember a recent dream and tell me.
One day we'll lie down and not get up.
One day, all we guard will be surrendered.
Until then, we'll go on learning to recognize
what we love, and what it takes
to tend what isn't for our having.
So often, fear has led me
to abandon what I know I must relinquish
in time. But for the moment,
I'll listen to her dream,
and she to mine, our mutual hearing calling
more and more detail into the light
of a joint and fragile keeping.
Alone
By the new-grass band Trampled by Turtles. This is one of the simplest and beautiful love songs I know. You can listen to "Alone" on YouTube.
You come into the world alone—
and you go out of the world alone—
but in between, there's you and me—
The summer breezes blow so tall—
and the winter nights are cold and so long—
in between the falling leaves—
The days and nights are killing me.
The light and dark are still in me.
But there's and anchor on the beach,
so let the wind blow hard,
and bring a falling star.
maybe I could eat blades of grass
WTF is this video? This title reminded me of Walt Whitman's book of course, but it's nothing like Walt Whitman, or love, or a love poem, or Saint Valentine. It's only one minute though.
maybe i could eat blades of grass
Hi, I’m damien maymdien.
i know what you’re probably thinking.
i’ve heard it 100 times.
people come up to me and they say,
“hey damien, why is everything
so dumb and stupid?”
well that’s a great question
and i’ll answer it for you.
first, let’s plant some trees.
ok, what was your question?
...and it continues but I don't want to spoil it for you. Go ahead, take a moment.
I hope you have a great day, Jeff O.