{"id":2717,"date":"2018-08-10T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T04:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2717"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:45:23","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:45:23","slug":"august-10-rutabaga-a-poem-for-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2018\/08\/10\/august-10-rutabaga-a-poem-for-august\/","title":{"rendered":"August 10   Rutabaga, a poem for August"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, August 10\u00a0 \u201cThough your seeds are tiny<br \/>\nyou grow with fierce will\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My sibs and are going to take advantage of what looks to be a rain-free day and check out the many ways the city interacts with the vast Great Lake world that flows through its most narrow channel in our downtown (\u201cDetroit\u201d in French means \u201cthe narrow place\u201d). \u00a0Hence the city\u2019s relatively long life for a U.S. city, 1703. \u00a0I chose this post from early August two years ago when we sibs gathered here to pay attention to our lives and our places in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Laura Grace Weldon\u2019s celebration of Rutabagas fresh from the garden feels like a song for beginnings, which are approaching on all three of our campuses these days. \u00a0Like many strong poems, Weldon sets us a table that looks ordinary but turns to become a gate into wonder. \u00a0Still pretty cheeky. \u00a0Wise too.<\/p>\n<p>Try reading it out loud with some pauses.<\/p>\n<p>john sj<\/p>\n<p><strong>Today\u2019s Post:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ayearofbeinghere.com\/2015\/08\/laura-grace-weldon-rutabaga.html\">\u201cRutabaga\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2016\/08\/rutabaga.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1911\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2016\/08\/rutabaga.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"168\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2016\/08\/rutabaga.jpg 168w, https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2016\/08\/rutabaga-158x300.jpg 158w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 168px) 100vw, 168px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You darken as my knife slices<br \/>\nblushing at what you become.<\/p>\n<p>I save your thick leaves<br \/>\nand purple skin<br \/>\nto feed the cows.<\/p>\n<p>A peasant guest at any meal<br \/>\nyou agree to hide in fragrant stew<br \/>\nor gleam nakedly<br \/>\nin butter and chives.<\/p>\n<p>Though your seeds are tiny<br \/>\nyou grow with fierce will<br \/>\ngrateful for poor soil and dry days,<br \/>\nheave up from the ground<br \/>\nunder sheltering stalks<br \/>\nto sweeten with the frost.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight we take you into our bodies<br \/>\nas if we do you a favor\u2014<br \/>\nletting your molecules<br \/>\nbecome a higher being,<br \/>\none that knows music and art.<\/p>\n<p>But you share with us<br \/>\nwhat makes you a rutabaga.<br \/>\nThrough you we eat sunlight,<br \/>\ntaste the soil\u2019s clamoring mysteries,<br \/>\ngain your seed\u2019s perfect might.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2016\/08\/Laura-Grace-Weldon.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1912\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2016\/08\/Laura-Grace-Weldon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"167\" height=\"221\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cRutabaga\u201d by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lauragraceweldon.com\/\"><strong>Laura Grace Weldon,<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tending-Laura-Grace-Weldon\/dp\/0615913423\"><strong><em>Tending<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Aldrich Press, 2013).<br \/>\n\u00a9 Laura Grace Weldon. Presented<br \/>\nhere by poet submission.<br \/>\n<em>\u00a0\u00a0 Art credit:<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asba-art.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/single_view_gallery\/public\/member-gallery\/Gastinger-La-3.jpg?itok=zHJf-Wpz\"><strong>\u201cRutabaga,\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0unknown<br \/>\nmedium, by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asba-art.org\/member-gallery\/lara-call-gastinger\"><strong>Lara Call Gastinger.<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n\u00a9 Lara Call Gastinger, 2004.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, August 10\u00a0 \u201cThough your seeds are tiny you grow with fierce will\u201d My sibs and are going to take advantage of what looks to be a rain-free day and check out the many ways the city interacts with the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2018\/08\/10\/august-10-rutabaga-a-poem-for-august\/\">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\/2717"}],"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=2717"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2719,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2717\/revisions\/2719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}