{"id":2788,"date":"2018-10-31T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T04:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2788"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:45:13","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:45:13","slug":"october-31-remembering-the-dead-the-eve-of-all-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2018\/10\/31\/october-31-remembering-the-dead-the-eve-of-all-saints\/","title":{"rendered":"October 31 – remembering the dead & the eve of All Saints"},"content":{"rendered":"

originally posted January 23, 2017<\/u><\/p>\n

Perhaps this Denise Levertov poem came to mind because I flew into JFK Saturday, braved Long Island\u2019s expressways with their too 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. \u00a0She whispered her last words to me, \u00a0\u201cyou do so many beautiful things.\u201d \u00a0I whispered back, \u201cI love you Connie.”<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s poem Denise Levertov writes of an ancient poet whose frail strengths remind me of Connie. \u00a0 Today is the last day of October, \u201cThe Day of the Dead and the Eve of All Hallows\u201d {i.e., Halloween} might tempt you to open your window or step outside so you can read \u201cIn Love\u201d bathed in beauty, breathing a little too.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

johns sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

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p.s. many pictures and a few objects from artists on & around\u00a0the closet door in my room \u2014\u00a0some of the pics are old, \u00a0some are recent, to me all are alive with beauty<\/p>\n

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

originally posted January 23, 2017 Perhaps this Denise Levertov poem came to mind because I flew into JFK Saturday, braved Long Island\u2019s expressways with their too tight turns matched by slightly-too-narrow lanes, to spend time with a lifelong soul friend, … 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\/2788"}],"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=2788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2791,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2788\/revisions\/2791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}