"Think In Ways You've Never Thought Before"
Posted on | September 17, 2006 | 13 Comments
I went to hear Robert Bly speak tonight, and felt, after listening to him read in his Minnesota accent, from his newest collection of poems, utterly vibrant. It was a little like touching the glass on an observation beehive, where the warmth from the thousand beating wings transfers instantly into the palm of your hand. Like that: warmth saturating my being, making me huger for more than I already have—more words, more knowledge, more courage, more poems.
He said: “I asked William Stafford ‘how can you write a poem every morning?’ and Bill said, ‘Just lower your standards.’”
Then he said: “Start with anything—whatever happens, and write one every day.”
My favorite poem he read tonight was this one, from his book titled Morning Poems.
Things to Think
Think in ways you’ve never thought before.
If the phone rings, think of it as carrying a message
Larger than anything you’ve ever heard,
Vaster than a hundred lines of Yeats.
Think that someone may bring a bear to your door,
Maybe wounded and deranged; or think that a moose
Has risen out of the lake, and he’s carrying on his antlers
A child of your own whom you’ve never seen.
When someone knocks on the door, think that he’s about
To give you something large: tell you you’re forgiven,
Or that it’s not necessary to work all the time, or that it’s
Been decided that if you lie down no one will die.
**
I’m making this my challenge for the rest of September. A morning poem every day. Some morsel that reaches out and touches wonder. Some collection of scraps that, when gathered together, contains the beautiful remnants of a day.
“You can say anything in language.” He said, daring us to try.
Care to join me?
Comments
13 Responses to “"Think In Ways You've Never Thought Before"”
Leave a Reply
My Book:
ELSEWHERE:
33 before 33
CATEGORIES
Archives
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
September 18th, 2006 @ 8:02 am
I am so jealous. He is my hero. He does provide such inspiration. I know, I have been following him for almost 30 years.
September 18th, 2006 @ 10:57 am
Such a good challenge. I might join you on this one, though I’ve never thought of myself as a writer in the “poetry” sense. Love the painting you did for DH. Have you guys been to Africa?
September 18th, 2006 @ 12:03 pm
I have just caught up on some blog reading after a week of being off line. Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary – ours was yesterday.
This poem gave me the chills and the giggles at the same time – I love the way it made me feel!! I love the whole poem but I think the part that I really like is:
“Think that someone may bring a bear to your door,
Maybe wounded and deranged; or think that a moose
Has risen out of the lake, and he’s carrying on his antlers
A child of your own whom you’ve never seen.”
I lived in northern MN for a couple of years in my mid-20′s and LOVED it – the moose, the bears, the 9 mths of winter, the accent – loved it all. Maybe that is why the poem makes me smile so much – it reminds me of a one time home.
I wish I could join you in the quest of morning poetry, but alas, I don’t think I ever received that wonderful writing gene.
September 18th, 2006 @ 12:32 pm
i’ve never had the priviledge of attendint a poetry reading. it sounds fabulous. i love this poem from bly.
my challenge for september was 30 poems in 30 days–i’ve not only been writing a poem each day (and some of them aren’t very good at all but hey, you have to be willing to write badly right?), but i’ve also been writing down a poem by another poet and sticking it somewhere out of the way, filling all kinds of drawers, cabinets, pockets, and other unusual places with poetry. yesterday britton found one of the poems i’d written on a scrap piece of paper and while we were outside playing ended up sticking it in the gas tank of his dad’s car. now we even have poetry in the gas tank.
September 18th, 2006 @ 1:12 pm
That poem was wonderful. I look forward to seeing the fruit of his inspiration here
September 18th, 2006 @ 2:14 pm
“Has risen out of the lake, and he’s carrying on his antlers
A child of your own whom you’ve never seen.”
Love those lines.
I am very self conscious when it comes to writing poetry.
But I might join you:)
September 18th, 2006 @ 5:15 pm
Um, okay. I think I will, so there! I keep hearing poetry on the radio (Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac on NPR) and thinking, “I can SO DO THAT.) So, definitely, for the rest of September, I will scribble down a poem.
So fun and scary all at the same time – poetry is dangerous like that!
September 18th, 2006 @ 5:19 pm
Um, okay. I think I will, so there! I keep hearing poetry on the radio (Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac on NPR) and thinking, “I can SO DO THAT.) So, definitely, for the rest of September, I will scribble down a poem.
So fun and scary all at the same time – poetry is dangerous like that!
September 18th, 2006 @ 9:22 pm
I needed an excuse to write more poetry. I will join you on this challenge , yet I am just going to leave it to “writing a poem a day for the rest of September”. I will post the good ones.
Thank you for the inspiration.
September 19th, 2006 @ 3:22 am
oh i am jealous. so very jealous.
love this idea.
September 19th, 2006 @ 6:19 am
dear fellow poetry lover,
this is one of my favorite posts. thank you for sharing bly’s witty tips and the extraordianry poem which began my day in the most beautiful way.
~w
September 19th, 2006 @ 11:22 am
a morning poem
every day for the rest
of September time
that’s beautiful. i’m part. thanks for the inspiration. and smile. what precious timing. the one for today, i wrote it even before i read about this plan.
September 20th, 2006 @ 4:31 am
You have no idea how much I need this idea right now. I’ve been so immersed in low-energy crap…missing the creative side of things. I shall accept your challenge…and remind myself that the challenge is simply to WRITE…not necessarily to write WELL.