Category Archives: Poetry

Monday of Week 2 of the Advent Season

Posted on December 9, 2019 by poetry

Monday of Week 2 of the Advent Season “Companion is the one who eats the same bread.” -Dom Helder Camera Monday, December 9, 2019 This show stopping photo was not taken this year; weather.com predicts a rain-drenched day, temps touching … Continue reading →

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Dec 6 – David Whyte – “The Journey”

Posted on December 6, 2019 by poetry

Friday, December 6 David Whyte introduces this poem as leaving and losing,  divorce of a dear friend as she leaves her marriage.  How many losses of a deep love have readers of the Work Day list lived?  Not all are … Continue reading →

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Advent Wednesday Week I

Posted on December 4, 2019 by ketterrd

Wednesday,  December 4 “imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty” November 29 was the anniversary of Bill Pauly’s sudden death at 59, 2006, of a heart attack.  That year Bill played inside a lovely sabbatical after years of demanding pastoring … Continue reading →

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Dec 2 — brave women, the anniversary of their violent murders 1980 El Salvador

Posted on December 2, 2019 by poetry

Monday, December 2, 2019 “turned in the air together and landed backwards! that’s what got me — to face into the wind’s teeth.” On days offering anniversaries of courage and violence,   flint-hard poetry can recall bravery to match meanness.  On … Continue reading →

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

Posted on November 26, 2019 by poetry

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

Posted on November 18, 2019 by poetry

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

Posted on November 15, 2019 by poetry

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

Posted on November 13, 2019 by poetry

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

Posted on November 11, 2019 by poetry

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

Posted on November 8, 2019 by poetry

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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