{"id":2802,"date":"2018-11-19T00:00:38","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T05:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2802"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:45:12","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:45:12","slug":"nov-19-for-angry-moments-in-nervous-times-david-whyte-and-denise-levertov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2018\/11\/19\/nov-19-for-angry-moments-in-nervous-times-david-whyte-and-denise-levertov\/","title":{"rendered":"Nov 19 – for angry moments in nervous times — David Whyte and Denise Levertov"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, November 19 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThe mineshaft of passion\u201d <\u2014-> \u00a0\u201cthe well of grief”<\/p>\n

About midnight last night I opened my window to say goodnight to 6 Mile and Livernois, and the city. \u00a0Astonishing. \u00a0After some days of damp and pretty dark, a nearly full moon lit up the night. \u00a0 This morning, softer light on traces of snow, with my iPhone promising little icons of sun 4 days of this Thanksgiving Week. \u00a0Grief requires stillness, but it is surely helped along by unexpected \u00a0surprises, delicate beauty.<\/p>\n

A thought about the news lately: \u00a0fire and anger and fear do best when I can bring them to stillness, when their source in grief becomes accessible to me. \u00a0 There\u2019s lots of anger in the land these days. \u00a0Here are two poets who frequently grace this list, writing their way into holy sorrow. \u00a0 Try reading them, perhaps not both right in a row, with pauses in between to let the poets’ words seep into your day.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Post # 1 \u00a0 David Whyte \u00a0\u201cThe Well of Grief\u201d
\n<\/strong>
\nThose who will not slip beneath
\nthe still surface on the well of grief,<\/p>\n

turning down through its black water
\nto the place we cannot breathe,<\/p>\n

will never know the source from which we drink,
\nthe secret water, cold and clear,<\/p>\n

nor find in the darkness glimmering,<\/p>\n

the small round coins,
\nthrown by those who wished for something else.<\/p>\n

Risking Everything<\/u><\/p>\n

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

David Whyte b. 1955<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Post \u00a0# 2 \u00a0Denise Levertov \u00a0\u201cthe Mineshaft of passion\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

And the poet\u2013it\u2019s midnight, the room is half empty, soon we must part\u2013
\nthe poet, his presence
\nursine and kind, shifting his weight in a chair too small for him,
\nquietly says, and shyly:
\n\u201cThe Poet
\nnever must lose despair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then our eyes indeed
\nmeet and hold,
\nAll of us know, smiling
\nin common knowledge\u2013
\neven the palest spirit among us, burdened
\nas he is with weight of abstractions\u2013
\nall of us know he means
\nwe mustn\u2019t, any of us, lose touch with the source,
\npretend it\u2019s not there, cover over
\nthe mineshaft of passion
\ndespair somberly tolls its bell
\nfrom the depths of,<\/p>\n

and wildest joy
\nsings out of too,
\nflashing
\nthe scales of its laughing, improbable music,
\ngrief and delight entwined in the dark down there.<\/p>\n

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

Denise Levertov
\nb. October 1923 \u00a0d. December 1997
\n\u201cConversation in Moscow\u201d in\u00a0Freeing of the Dust<\/em><\/p>\n

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

from my window looking west, this morning, November 19, c. 8:00 am<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, November 19 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThe mineshaft of passion\u201d <\u2014-> \u00a0\u201cthe well of grief” About midnight last night I opened my window to say goodnight to 6 Mile and Livernois, and the city. \u00a0Astonishing. \u00a0After some days of damp and pretty … 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\/2802"}],"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=2802"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2806,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2802\/revisions\/2806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}