{"id":2168,"date":"2017-01-23T00:00:11","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T05:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2168"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:47:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:47:22","slug":"jan-23-about-love-and-loss-and-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/01\/23\/jan-23-about-love-and-loss-and-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Jan 23 – about love, and loss, and love"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 23 \u00a0– \u00a0\u201cso many years
\nof intense partnership,”<\/p>\n

Some poems call readers out onto vast realities; \u00a0last Friday was like that, \u00a0a day for attention during \u00a0this contentious transition of my country\u2019s political leadership. \u00a0 \u00a0Some poems open into resonant, intimate love. \u00a0That\u2019s today\u2019s \u201cIn Love.\u201d \u00a0 Perhaps this Denise Levertov poem came to mind because I flew into JFK Saturday, braved Long Island\u2019s expressways with their t00-tight turns matched by slightly-too-narrow lanes, to spend time with a lifelong soul friend, Sr. Consuela de Biase, csj. \u00a0 Connie has become frail, like the ancient poet in today\u2019s poem. \u00a0She misses nothing, I realized, but you have to lean in close to hear; \u00a0worn with fatigue, she whispers, and pauses to breathe. \u00a0We visited three times \u00a0(c. 90 minutes, \u00a025 minutes, and 4 or 5 when we said goodbye before I headed back to JFK early Sunday). \u00a0I love it that the 40 mile drive on the parkway was wearing; \u00a0it reminds me that those miles and our 3 conversations are of a piece with decades of mutual listening, the fabric of Connie\u2019s life. \u00a0Some hundreds of women and men, mostly using their cars or their phones, counted on Connie listening to their stories of joy and fear, anger and delight. \u00a0I am one of them. \u00a0 \u00a0With any luck at all, I\u2019ll be back to her room before too long. \u00a0Given Long Island traffic, perhaps I\u2019ll try Uber instead of a rental.<\/p>\n

Have a blest week.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

p.s.\u00a0This poem appeared on October 19, 2015. \u00a0 Best to read it a couple times, \u00a0out loud with pauses.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIn Love\u201d<\/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

Denise Levertov \u00a01923 \u2013 1997<\/p>\n

Connie laughing, \u00a0smiling, \u00a0contemplative \u00a0August 2006<\/p>\n

\"Connie1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Connie2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Connie3\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 23 \u00a0– \u00a0\u201cso many years of intense partnership,” Some poems call readers out onto vast realities; \u00a0last Friday was like that, \u00a0a day for attention during \u00a0this contentious transition of my country\u2019s political leadership. \u00a0 \u00a0Some poems open into … 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\/2168"}],"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=2168"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2389,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168\/revisions\/2389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}