tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post3346754005981938078..comments2023-12-16T23:54:45.620+13:00Comments on . . . All Finite Things Reveal Infinitude . . . : Tuesday Poem - The Layers by Stanley KunitzClaire Beynonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-25873566759447106482011-03-06T19:46:13.492+13:002011-03-06T19:46:13.492+13:00Dear Marylinn - I wish it were possible to draw my...Dear Marylinn - I wish it were possible to draw my gratitude and post it here. Thank you, thank you. xoClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-15092408646425018072011-03-06T19:45:31.955+13:002011-03-06T19:45:31.955+13:00Dear Alicia - 'Touch Me' is quite a poem, ...Dear Alicia - 'Touch Me' is quite a poem, yes, and Stanley Kunitz a power to be reckoned with. His words go unapologetically, unsentimentally to the core of things, whether it be a relationship, a small object, love, aging, loss. Take care of your heart and its oh-so-tender chambers xoClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-85301092077655652492011-03-05T22:25:04.980+13:002011-03-05T22:25:04.980+13:00Dear Claire, thanks for the link. What a heartbre...Dear Claire, thanks for the link. What a heartbreakingly sad poem, Maybe though, my heart isn't ready yet for mending, for the end seemed sadder than ever. Almost desperately so. <br />Still, quite a poet/poem.AJ Ponderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15625252892255925438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-1958716051455969102011-03-05T18:27:33.217+13:002011-03-05T18:27:33.217+13:00Dear Claire, If you see a painting in the words, t...Dear Claire, If you see a painting in the words, then it is clearly a gift meant for you. I cannot wait to see what appears. Thank you, it is yours with my blessings. xoMarylinn Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02759437467691163658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-86427492285257866952011-03-05T13:29:21.641+13:002011-03-05T13:29:21.641+13:00Susan - yes, is not renewal the ultimate reward? L...Susan - yes, is not renewal the ultimate reward? Loss and hope are unavoidable human experiences - renewal (it seems to me) arises out of our active engagement with both so that instead of remaining in a state of despair, destruction and defeat, we move upwards, outwards and through into a place of relief, restoration, renewal. . . (what is it with 'de-' words and 're-' words; what apposite/opposite notes they sound?)<br /><br />*^*<br />(I love your wee tent-under-the-stars icon!) xoClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-91176836061398208132011-03-05T13:20:38.713+13:002011-03-05T13:20:38.713+13:00Dear Elisabeth - as I said to Alicia - we are fort...Dear Elisabeth - as I said to Alicia - we are fortunate to have others' words to borrow or lean on when we ourselves are mute. I know you know what our country is going through now because of the devastating floods in Queensland. . . this being human. Thank you for adding your thoughts to ours, Elisabeth. L+ CClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-69745920468161705482011-03-05T13:15:13.590+13:002011-03-05T13:15:13.590+13:00Dear Marylinn, like you, when I wake in the night ...Dear Marylinn, like you, when I wake in the night I receive it as a prompt there must be something I'm supposed to be awake to, so I get up/get listening, go with the flow. The quiet dark hours can yield things that the light ones can't?<br /><br />Your second paragraph begs a painting to accompany it, Marylinn - may I, please? Your words open up new worlds of seeing & perceiving as always. Thank you. xoClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-48211984163206542182011-03-05T12:39:39.741+13:002011-03-05T12:39:39.741+13:00Dear Rachel - restless poems? Hungry poems? Born-t...Dear Rachel - restless poems? Hungry poems? Born-to-connect poems? I like the sound of that, of them coming home to the body - ours, and the corpus mundi/anima mundi. I, too, will keep in mind 'live in the layers.' Love, C xClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-35646942462883114512011-03-05T12:37:24.093+13:002011-03-05T12:37:24.093+13:00Hi Alicia - have you heard Kunitz reading his poem...Hi Alicia - have you heard Kunitz reading his poem 'Touch me'? If not, prepare to have your heart broken then put back together again - - - <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nihqt3Ct2KU&feature=related<br /><br />L, CClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-54976013647646145552011-03-05T09:23:39.208+13:002011-03-05T09:23:39.208+13:00The way this poem voices loss and hope at the same...The way this poem voices loss and hope at the same time is indeed a mystery, Mim. We can be thankful that it does. . . L, C xoClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-82643695947433588972011-03-05T08:53:19.250+13:002011-03-05T08:53:19.250+13:00Dear Rene - we are fortunate to be able to borrow...Dear Rene - we are fortunate to be able to borrow words from another when our aren't forthcoming. I know you have wrestled similarly during this disorienting, tremulous time. Love to you and to your far-reaching work - ClaireClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-25948831673782272772011-03-05T08:51:31.429+13:002011-03-05T08:51:31.429+13:00Dear Melissa - Stanley Kunitz's words have a w...Dear Melissa - Stanley Kunitz's words have a way of speaking straight to the heart of our human reality - somehow malleable and exacting enough to be meaningful and pertinent in any situation? The lines you have highlighted spoke especially clearly to me, too. 'How shall the heart be reconciled to its feast of losses?' And yet - miraculously - it is. It knows what is required in order to bring the pieces together and make us whole? 'Live in the layers' speaks of, and to, the 'all of it', doesn't it. L, C xoClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-56491794571870773542011-03-03T09:09:50.176+13:002011-03-03T09:09:50.176+13:00kunitz is so appropriate for this place, these tim...kunitz is so appropriate for this place, these times. as mim says, how does he do it: loss and hope at the same time. stanley was, famously, a gardener...and he also lived, famously, a long life. he knew about loss and hope--and renewal--from many perspectives.susan t. landryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12454487318141469849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-26878687470257288882011-03-03T00:43:37.251+13:002011-03-03T00:43:37.251+13:00Such a beautiful and meaningful poem, Claire. I a...Such a beautiful and meaningful poem, Claire. I am touched by its honesty and by the outpourings of grief for those who suffer in Christchurch. Thank you.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-78085148467674637172011-03-02T22:31:04.093+13:002011-03-02T22:31:04.093+13:00This is a table prepared to nourish, a respite for...This is a table prepared to nourish, a respite for souls, weary yet hopeful still. An alarm clock gone berserk woke me, so I turned on the computer and had quiet time to stop here, rewarded for my interrupted sleep.<br /><br />At every turn is the opportunity - or challenge - to take the higher road, to find meaning and goodness, to develop perspective for what life presents. We are all explorers, sailing into each new day on the strength of rumors, cities of gold, peril, victory or defeat. But we have no homeland awaiting our return, we can only go forward, brave or foolish, as prepared as we can be for the next adventure. <br /><br />Fine words, fine wisdom, as always. Love, Marylinn xoMarylinn Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02759437467691163658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-56251847998537853252011-03-02T08:19:30.108+13:002011-03-02T08:19:30.108+13:00Thank you, Claire. I'm keeping these things - ...Thank you, Claire. I'm keeping these things - Live in the layers and poems are not fulfilled until they find a body to belong to.<br />xoRachelVBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10312736736551027564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-40271293415895526612011-03-01T16:26:27.843+13:002011-03-01T16:26:27.843+13:00It's a fantastic choice, something to treasure...It's a fantastic choice, something to treasure.AJ Ponderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15625252892255925438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-69153874313454093682011-03-01T14:58:36.626+13:002011-03-01T14:58:36.626+13:00Lilting and sad this Kunitz poem. It is a mystery...Lilting and sad this Kunitz poem. It is a mystery how the poem voices loss and hope.Mimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13039776441665375475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-24203866746355924492011-03-01T13:47:47.492+13:002011-03-01T13:47:47.492+13:00Oh, Claire. Beautifully chosen. And beautifully wr...Oh, Claire. Beautifully chosen. And beautifully written. Thank you.Piokiwihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06093612075587719561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5100640878581081403.post-78675854461232934162011-03-01T13:45:10.572+13:002011-03-01T13:45:10.572+13:00A perfect poem to have posted, Claire. It says eve...A perfect poem to have posted, Claire. It says everything about our damaged world, our dread "How shall the heart be reconciled/to its feast of losses?" How indeed. "Live in the layers" has been given a place next to 'stand in the heart.', Claire. Love, Melissa xoMelissa Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03270919534011711225noreply@blogger.com