1. Cultivate a secret life.
"A Secret Life" by Stephen Dunn
2. Discover the fuel that feeds you.
"Hidden" by Naomi Shihab Nye
3. Eat peaches.
"From Blossoms" by Li-Young Lee
4. Take the road not taken.
"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
5. Change your life.
"Archaic Torso of Apollo" by Rainer Maria Rilke
6. You do not have to be good.
"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver
7. Go back.
"I Go Back to May 1937" by Sharon Olds
8. When the time comes to let it go, let it go.
"In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver
9. Re-invent.
"Valentine for Ernest Mann" by Naomi Shihab Nye
10. Identify what stays with you latest and deepest.
"The Wound Dresser" by Walt Whitman
11. Remember disobedience is the first right of being alive.
"Why Some Girls Love Horses" by Paisley Rekdal
12. Don't think you're better, stronger or more important than you are.
"Ozymandius" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
13. Pour yourself like a fountain.
Sonnet to Orpheus, Part Two, XII by Rainer Maria Rilke
... more to come!
"Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us
ReplyDeletewe find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock
in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite.
And let me know." from "Valentine for Ernest Mann" by Naomi Shihab Nye
Ruth, I love it! Adding "Valentine for Enest Mann" to the list. I'd never read it before. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing.
DeleteSome great poems listed here, Irene...but I'd add one more piece of advice:
ReplyDeleteDon't think you're better, stronger, or more important than you are. ("Ozymandius" by Percy Bysshe Shelley)
Thank you, Matt! It's great addition. A little humble-ness never hurt. Thanks so much.
DeleteIrene, I really like the concept, pour yourself like a fountain. Many people have more than they think to offer others. Being Poets and writers, we have the ability to pour the essence of emotions into the very lives of people. As a fountain we each have a certain flow about ourselves which help quench thirsts...
ReplyDelete