{"id":2111,"date":"2016-12-02T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T05:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2111"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:47:29","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:47:29","slug":"dec-2-sheer-bravery-women-and-men-1921-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2016\/12\/02\/dec-2-sheer-bravery-women-and-men-1921-1980\/","title":{"rendered":"Dec 2 sheer bravery, women and men, 1921, 1980"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, December 2, 2016
\n“and wait then, humped and bloody,
\nFor the wits to try it again ”<\/p>\n

Some days offer anniversaries of such blunt courage and beauty that stillness makes a wise response.<\/p>\n

Richard\u00a0Wilbur wrote \u201cThe Writer\u201d \u00a0in 1921, \u00a02 years into the rolling \u00a0shock waves from chemical warfare horrors twisting the faces and limbs of maimed soldiers returning from Europe and, way too often, not finding jobs waiting to honor their broken bodies: a half-decade of fear and rage, of sometimes savage contempt for most immigrants, and for fellow citizens with whom one differed. \u00a0 Years not unlike the years in which we live just now. \u00a0Today\u2019s poet recognized, in that precise moment of history, the wonder of young people \u00a0risking a lot to live into their futures. \u00a0Learning to write is brave, the poet tells us, especially in hard times.<\/p>\n

Have a blest weekend,<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe Writer\u201d \u00a0<\/strong>Richard Wilbur<\/p>\n

In her room at the prow of the house
\nWhere light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden,
\nMy daughter is writing a story.<\/p>\n

I pause in the stairwell, hearing
\nFrom her shut door a commotion of typewriter-keys
\nLike a chain hauled over a gunwale.<\/p>\n

Young as she is, the stuff
\nOf her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy:
\nI wish her a lucky passage.<\/p>\n

But now it is she who pauses,
\nAs if to reject my thought and its easy figure.
\nA stillness greatens, in which<\/p>\n

The whole house seems to be thinking,
\nAnd then she is at it again with a bunched clamor
\nOf strokes, and again is silent.<\/p>\n

I remember the dazed starling
\nWhich was trapped in that very room, two years ago;
\nHow we stole in, lifted a sash<\/p>\n

And retreated, not to affright it;
\nAnd how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door,
\nWe watched the sleek, wild, dark<\/p>\n

And iridescent creature
\nBatter against the brilliance, drop like a glove
\nTo the hard floor, or the desk-top,<\/p>\n

And wait then, humped and bloody,
\nFor the wits to try it again; and how our spirits
\nRose when, suddenly sure,<\/p>\n

It lifted off from a chair-back,
\nBeating a smooth course for the right window
\nAnd clearing the sill of the world.<\/p>\n

It is always a matter, my darling,
\nOf life or death, as I had forgotten.\u00a0I wish
\nWhat I wished you before, but harder.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0richard wilbur \u00a0March 1, 1921 \u00a0\u2013<\/em><\/p>\n

p.s.\u00a0 On this day in 1980 4 American women, Maura Clark and Ita Ford (Maryknoll sisters), Dorothy Kazel (Ursuline), and Jean Donovan a young single woman were raped, murdered, and buried in shallow graves in a Salvadoran field by out-of-uniform Salvadoran military. Their murders evoked a response in the U.S. that galvanized opposition to the U.S. Government funding for the Salvadoran government.\u00a0 Brave women. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"missionaries\"<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1980_murders_of_U.S._missionaries_in_El_Salvador<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

p.p.s. \u00a0Yesterday a statement from presidents of the network of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) articulated their stance of support for undocumented students across the national network. \u00a0http:\/\/jesuits.org\/news-detail?TN=NEWS-20161130013852&utm_source=Jesuit+eNews+December+1%2C+2016&utm_campaign=Dec.+1%2C+2016+eNewsletter&utm_medium=email<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, December 2, 2016 “and wait then, humped and bloody, For the wits to try it again ” Some days offer anniversaries of such blunt courage and beauty that stillness makes a wise response. Richard\u00a0Wilbur wrote \u201cThe Writer\u201d \u00a0in 1921, … 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\/2111"}],"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=2111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2113,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111\/revisions\/2113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}