{"id":1571,"date":"2015-10-19T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T04:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1571"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:08","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:08","slug":"oct-19-two-long-marriages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/10\/19\/oct-19-two-long-marriages\/","title":{"rendered":"Oct 19 – two long marriages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday October 19 \u00a0– ”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 not because mind and memory
\nfalter, but . . . ”<\/p>\n

Mid October, a brisk, chilly, breath-taking weekend across the whole city and more. \u00a0Now a new work week. \u00a0Friday\u2019s post was hard, a close look into the terrors of refugee journeys. \u00a0I looked this morning for a love poem to honor last Friday\u2019s funeral for Bill Shaffer, a Vet, a member of the UAW, for 58 years married to Barbara. \u00a0And to remember my mom, then a widow of 25 years at 102, \u00a0who died on this day in 2005. \u00a0I found a poem in Evening Train<\/u>, one of the later works of Denise Levertov.<\/p>\n

Some poems require readers to look out onto vast realities; that was Friday and W J Auden\u2019s “Refugee Blues”. \u00a0Some lead into intimate, enduring, resonant love. \u00a0That\u2019s today\u2019s \u201cIn Love.” \u00a0A university engages all sorts of reality. \u00a0That\u2019s what we do here.<\/p>\n

Best to read this a couple times, \u00a0out loud with pauses.<\/p>\n

Have a blest Monday in this mid-October week. \u00a0 \u00a0Sunrise here at 7:51; sunset at 6:46, the sun rides lower in the heavens each day\u00a0til December\u2019s \u00a0Solstice.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIn Love\u201d \u00a0 {dedicated to Barbara and Bill, and Hildegarde and Louis}<\/p>\n

Over gin and tonic (an unusual treat) the ancient poet
\nhaltingly \u2014\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 not because mind and memory
\nfalter, but because language, now,
\nweary from so many years
\nof intense partnership,
\ncomes stiffly to her summons,
\nwith unsure footing \u2014
\nrecounts, for the first time in my hearing, each step
\nof that graceful sarabande, her husband\u2019s
\nlast days, last minutes, fifteen years ago.<\/p>\n

She files her belongings freestyle, jumbled
\nin plastic bags \u2014 poems, old letters, ribbons,
\nold socks, an empty picture frame;
\nbut keeps her fifty years of marriage wrapped, flawless,
\nin something we sense and almost see \u2014
\ndiaphanous as those saris one can pass through a wedding ring.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Denise
\n<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Denise Levertov \u00a01923 – 1997<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday October 19 \u00a0– ”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 not because mind and memory falter, but . . . ” Mid October, a brisk, chilly, breath-taking weekend across the whole city and more. \u00a0Now a new work week. \u00a0Friday\u2019s post was hard, a close … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1572,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions\/1572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}