A Poem For A Day in March

It's not new, but it's something that hasn't been read before at least.


How to Sit Quietly With Love

Well, it overtakes you, like laughter, gurgling.
Like swallowing water wrongly down your trachea,
a feeling you're going to drown-
you must cough,
and everyone knows you're choking.
You spit, spew and hack;
someone kindly slaps you,
hard, on the back.
It makes signs
pointing to your head and chest.
Some of them flash.
If, accidentally, you let a small sound escape,
only those paying attention-
which is to say, few-
will notice.
Now and then, you may touch it-
as you might a bruise -
just to see -
When you're alone, inking words or wind-walking,
let it rustle and slush, spin you round -
a pinwheel whirling through this world.
Otherwise, carry a bottlecap in your pocket
or a hairband on your arm,
and when you surge to let it seep,
just thumb the jagged edge flesh-deep
or snap
elastic band to tender wrist.
~Ali O'Rourke


"If you read the letters of the painter Van Gogh you will see what his creative impulse was. It was just this: he loved something - the sky, say. He loved human beings. He wanted to show human beings how beautiful the sky was. So he painted it for them. And that was all there was to it." ~ Brenda Ueland from If You Want to Write