{"id":2214,"date":"2017-02-24T00:00:27","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T05:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2214"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:47:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:47:15","slug":"feb-24-start-with-your-own-question-david-whyte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/02\/24\/feb-24-start-with-your-own-question-david-whyte\/","title":{"rendered":"Feb 24 &#8220;start with your own question&#8221; &#8212;\tDavid Whyte"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, \u00a0February \u00a024<br \/>\n\u201cTo hear<br \/>\nanother\u2019s voice,<br \/>\nfollow<br \/>\nyour own voice&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For a few weeks David Whyte has been on my mind, wanting my attention. \u00a0I am pretty sure I bought one of his books of poems and scrambled around my office looking enough times that to doubt that any of his books ever made a home here after all. \u00a0 Nudged by such little intuitions, I web wandered and stopped with the first DW poem that was new to me.<\/p>\n<p>I hope it blesses your Friday. \u00a0Here in Detroit the day promises clouds and hints at rain. \u00a0Around here we\u2019ve suffered from a drought of blizzards, \u00a0lots of sun, trees budding too soon, no swirling winds or sculpted drifts. \u00a0Well . . . \u00a0maybe my move from \u201cI\u201d to \u201cwe\u201d is too facile; \u00a0lots of people with whom I share the Detroit River passage in the heart of the Great Lakes would just as soon take a pass on blizzards. \u00a0So, let me edit: \u00a0 \u201c . . . \u00a0around here I\u2019ve suffered from a drought of blizzards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This new David Whyte poem does me good as the work week ends. \u00a0I hope it helps you too.<\/p>\n<p>Have a blest weekend.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>john sj<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Today\u2019s Post: \u00a0\u201cStart Close In\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Start close in,<br \/>\ndon\u2019t take the second step<br \/>\nor the third,<br \/>\nstart with the first<br \/>\nthing<br \/>\nclose in,<br \/>\nthe step<br \/>\nyou don\u2019t want to take.<\/p>\n<p>Start with<br \/>\nthe ground<br \/>\nyou know,<br \/>\nthe pale ground<br \/>\nbeneath your feet,<br \/>\nyour own<br \/>\nway to begin<br \/>\nthe conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Start with your own<br \/>\nquestion,<br \/>\ngive up on other<br \/>\npeople\u2019s questions,<br \/>\ndon\u2019t let them<br \/>\nsmother something<br \/>\nsimple.<\/p>\n<p>To hear<br \/>\nanother\u2019s voice,<br \/>\nfollow<br \/>\nyour own voice,<br \/>\nwait until<br \/>\nthat voice<\/p>\n<p>becomes an<br \/>\nintimate<br \/>\nprivate ear<br \/>\nthat can<br \/>\nreally listen<br \/>\nto another.<\/p>\n<p>Start right now<br \/>\ntake a small step<br \/>\nyou can call your own<br \/>\ndon\u2019t follow<br \/>\nsomeone else\u2019s<br \/>\nheroics, be humble<br \/>\nand focused,<br \/>\nstart close in,<br \/>\ndon\u2019t mistake<br \/>\nthat other<br \/>\nfor your own.<\/p>\n<p>Start close in,<br \/>\ndon\u2019t take<br \/>\nthe second step<br \/>\nor the third,<br \/>\nstart with the first<br \/>\nthing<br \/>\nclose in,<br \/>\nthe step<br \/>\nyou don\u2019t want to take.<\/p>\n<p>from \u00a0<u>River Flow: New &amp; Selected Poems<\/u><br \/>\nMany Rivers Press<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2017\/02\/David-Whyte.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2195\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2017\/02\/David-Whyte.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"119\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>David Whyte b. 1955<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, \u00a0February \u00a024 \u201cTo hear another\u2019s voice, follow your own voice&#8221; For a few weeks David Whyte has been on my mind, wanting my attention. \u00a0I am pretty sure I bought one of his books of poems and scrambled around &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/02\/24\/feb-24-start-with-your-own-question-david-whyte\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/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\/2214"}],"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=2214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2215,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions\/2215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}