{"id":3227,"date":"2019-10-23T11:40:31","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T15:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/?p=3227"},"modified":"2019-10-23T11:40:31","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T15:40:31","slug":"october-23-denise-levertov-drumming-the-roof-the-rains-insistent-heartbeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2019\/10\/23\/october-23-denise-levertov-drumming-the-roof-the-rains-insistent-heartbeat\/","title":{"rendered":"October 23 – Denise Levertov – \u201cdrumming the roof, the rain\u2019s insistent heartbeat\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, October 23 \u00a0– \u00a0\u201cGreyhaired, I have not grown wiser,
\nunless to perceive absurdity
\nis wisdom. A powerless wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why do all these autumn travel days remind me of Denise Levertov\u2019s poem about falling in love as an elderly woman? \u00a0 The poem is as improbably playful as the leaves riding the wind gusts. \u00a0Yesterday morning, I said goodbye to 3 weeks in mid-New England \u2014 mostly Worcester and Dudley, plus to visits to the heart of Boston, along Route 9. \u00a0One Route 9 adventure took me for lunch at the Jamaica Plain home of one of my decades-long friends, Leo Marx, who will turn 100 next month. \u00a0We were five: \u00a0Leo, his daughter Lucy, and two other MIT soul friends of as many years. \u00a0Roe Smith and I met in 1975 when he came to U Penn as visiting faculty; \u00a0he and Bronwyn have been close ever since. \u00a0Roz Williams welcomed me during my early years as visiting faculty at MIT\u2019s Science, Technology, and Society beginning 1982. \u00a0The five of us told stories about our academic lives and other adventures, over a platter of scrumptious sandwiches.<\/p>\n

I drove back to Dudley after lunch, inordinately proud of my ability to GPS the tangle of streets and hills that make Jamaica Plain daunting and lovely. \u00a0Two days later Worcester\u2019s College of the Holy Cross hosted a gathering of former Jesuit Volunteers. \u00a0Most days, though, I spent these retreat days in the home of Mary and George Burke, their daughter Caelin, and Ruby their still adolescent Black Lab. \u00a0 Mary, George, and Caelin hustle off early each work day leaving a quiet house and yard. \u00a0 \u00a0These weeks have visited with me: alive with stillness and memories from my life and years of its graces.<\/p>\n

This morning in Buffalo, I am staying with Beth Ann Finster and her fellow Sisters of St. Joseph. \u00a0 When I drove in last evening through driving rain and 405 miles on the Massachusetts and New York Turnpikes, these savvy women took one look at my bedraggled state and observed, \u201cyou aren\u2019t thinking of driving to Detroit tomorrow?\u201d \u00a0I took their point. \u00a0Now after some delicious sleep and good company, I am letting these women of Buffalo slow my pace and expand my travel time expectations. \u00a0 How often does that happen in our lives? \u00a0 Our plans welcomed into a context of the pace of life with its kindred spirits, soften and surprise.<\/p>\n

Why do these two autumn travel days remind me of Denise Levertov\u2019s poem about falling in love as an elderly woman? \u00a0 The poem is as improbably playful as the upstate New York leaves riding the wind gusts. \u00a0So too the welcome from Beth Ann Finster and her sisters. \u00a0So too, these October sabbatical surprises.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I love the poem and the poet; \u00a0by the way, her birthdate is tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

today\u2019s post<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAncient Airs and Dances\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

I knew too well
\nwhat had befallen me
\nwhen, one night, I put my lips to his wineglass
\nafter he left\u2013an impulse I thought was locked away with a smile
\ninto memory\u2019s museum.<\/p>\n

When he took me to visit friends and the sea, he lay
\nasleep in the next room\u2019s dark where the fire
\nrustled all night; and I, from a warm bed, sleepless,
\nwatched through the open door
\nthat glowing hearth, and heard,
\ndrumming the roof, the rain\u2019s
\ninsistent heartbeat.<\/p>\n

Greyhaired, I have not grown wiser,
\nunless to perceive absurdity
\nis wisdom. A powerless wisdom.<\/p>\n

II<\/p>\n

Shameless heart! Did you not vow to learn
\nstillness from the heron
\nquiet from the mists of fall,
\nand from the mountain\u2013what was it?
\nPride? Remoteness?
\nYou have forgotten already!
\nAnd now you clamor again
\nlike an obstinate child demanding attention,
\ninterrupting study and contemplation.
\nYou try my patience. Bound as we are
\ntogether for life, must you now,
\nso late in the day, go bounding sideways,
\ntrying to drag me with you?<\/p>\n

Denise Levertov \u2013\u00a0Evening Train<\/u><\/p>\n

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

October 24, 1923 \u2013 December 20, 1997<\/p>\n

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Denise_Levertov<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Wednesday, October 23 \u00a0– \u00a0\u201cGreyhaired, I have not grown wiser, unless to perceive absurdity is wisdom. A powerless wisdom.\u201d Why do all these autumn travel days remind me of Denise Levertov\u2019s poem about falling in love as an elderly woman? … 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\/3227"}],"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=3227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3228,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3227\/revisions\/3228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}