Weekend Poetry Date - Week 2

Weekend Poetry Dates are a weekly series of posts reporting on this newbie's exploration of poetry during National Poetry Month (April 2012). See all the posts here.

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 "Look for the poetry that grows under your feet."

~ Rainer Marie Rilke

I haven't written any poetry yet, but I've read more in the past two weeks than I have in the past 10 years. It's interesting to see which ones grab me and which ones don't.

I haven't given much time to any contemporary poets, most of my readings are from typical introductory books like The 100 Best Poems of All Time, or Poems Worth Knowing (that last one's from 1958!). Thanks to Tingle and her amazing list in last week's comments though, I think I'll make a point of branching out into more recent writings this coming week.

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This past week brought a major insight: When it comes to poetry I have no patience.

I tend to get bored easily by super long poems (Longfellow's Evangeline excepted, but that's because I'm Acadian and the story is dear to my heart). Old or complex language loses me and so do complex metaphors.

I guess I like my poetry short and I like it obvious. I didn't know that about me.

Case in point, out of the 100 Best Poems of All Time - and granted I didn't read them all - the one that took my breath away was An Old Pond by Matsuo Bashō, written in the 1600s:

Old pond—

A frog leaps in—

Water's sound.

I see it. I hear it. Can you?

Thoughts on Uncertainty and Reclaiming Our Energy

"If we can shift our uncertainty, our not-knowing, into an adventure, how wonderful that would be. Even if things go wrong, we would always be the seeker rather than the victim."

~ Susan Jeffers, Embracing Uncertainty

With impending cuts to one of the city's largest employers and my own work transition, uncertainty seems to be a prevalent topic these days with worry and fear as its gloomy sidekicks.

Frankly, it's bumming me out and draining me dry.

Tired of feeling weighty I'd like to propose an alternative:

What if instead of tying up our energy with the worry and what-ifs that come with uncertainty, we re-directed it to the possible and the what-we-can-dos?

Even just a bit would make a difference, non?

My intent here is not to make light of any fears or worries that are valid and real when faced with the unknown (I'm the first one to admit that constructively dealing with uncertainty is not my forte). My intent is to see if there's a way to reclaim the energy we sink into these fears - a way to reclaim our power.

Uncertainty has a bad rap, many of us are trained to fear it instead of turning it around and seeking its potential. I'd love to see that change.

In the end we may not be able to choose our fate, but we can choose to funnel our energy toward something that leaves us feeling empowered instead of anxious.

What would that look like for you?