#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
Charlie leads the way, Rocky Narrows
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –
I keep it, staying at Home –
With a Bobolink for a Chorister –
And an Orchard, for a Dome –
~ Emily Dickinson, Excerpt from “Some keep the Sabbath going”
Sunday is for sleeping late, at least this morning. Up late reading. I woke very refreshed and excited for a run in the woods. I thought of going to Farm Pond on my run but did not want to disappoint Charlie. Still, it was very warm under the trees, along the trails and I wanted very much to dive into the pond. Settled for a swim in the pool. In the afternoon I made a tough choice. Frank went off on the river with my daughter to canoe with Charlie and Suzi aboard along the beautiful fall foliage. I had the chance to hear a poetry friend read from his new book at his book launch. And I chose that, and was very satisfied that I did. Because David, whose book, “A Bend in the Stair,” was just published by Lily Poetry, is a fine poet, and more than that, he’s a huge supportive of so many other poets in our Boston area community, including me. And it was fun to see so many friends in poetry also there, to hear his reading, and to enjoy the format Eileen Cleary, the publisher, is using for book launches, with a chosen interviewer asking the poet questions interspersed with the poet reading from the book. It was the best way to spend the Sunday afternoon, and then they came home, happy and chilled, and Charlie and Suzi were happiest of all.
“To read or listen to poetry requires unmixed attention just as writing it does. And when a poem is read aloud, there’s a communal, at times ritualistic, element that can make a reading feel like collective prayer, even if there are only a few listeners in the audience or I’m listening by myself.”