Monthly Archives: November 2019

Tuesday, Nov 26, deep into November – Gerard Manley Hopkins sj

Tuesday, Nov 26, deep into November This delicate and demanding Hopkins speaks of the power and beauty of ordinary human sadness.  Pretty much every work day in the year invites our attention to work-pressure but also to what we notice … Continue reading

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Nov 18 – “a different oral argument” Maria Ibarra

Monday, November 18  – about the US Supreme Court hearing on DACA, November 12 Readers of the “Work Day in a Hard Time” Poetry List may well remember Maria Ibarra’s first post to the list (August 29, 2018).  The poem … Continue reading

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Nov 15, a second poem written in praise of women and men who show up for work

Friday, November 15 “ . . . people . . . who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward who do what has to be done, again and again” Wednesday’s Jamaal May poem, “Shift” inspired one of our … Continue reading

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Nov 13, halfway through November to Thanksgiving – Jamaal May

Wednesday November 13 “I don’t know if it’s better to be good at a bad job or bad at a good job” What’s sweet about Thanksgiving, at least one of the sweet things, is a 3 day work week followed … Continue reading

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November 11 home cooking with Gail Burnett last evening — remembering soul friends we love — saying goodbye from deep down

Monday November 11 “ . . . keeps her fifty years of marriage wrapped, flawless, in something we sense and almost see — diaphanous as those saris one can pass through a wedding ring.” Gail cooked a lovely dinner, we … Continue reading

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Nov 8 – – “Perhaps the world ends here” – – – U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo

Friday, November 8,   “Our dreams drink coffee with us” Sometimes I get so busy that being behind on tasks distracts me from beauty.  That’s a shame.   Like great poets anywhere, Joy Harjo often lets strong language find her … Continue reading

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Nov 6 — “How could I forget Naomi Shihab Nye’s gift for language for 8 WHOLE MONTHS”

“something you already had And set it down in A new place.” This week, when I am 4 days back home for a few weeks at Six Mile & Livernois and looking ahead for 3 weeks off the road, these … Continue reading

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Nov 4 — confronting Racism among Midwest Jesuits c. 1965 ff.- Honoring Joe Sheehan, SJ (d. Nov 4, 1997)

Mary Oliver: “there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own” “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice” Late during the Lenten … Continue reading

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