George Danko to\u00a0jstsj, May 22, 2018<\/p>\n
\u201cDear John,<\/p>\n
I recently read a children\u2019s book,\u00a0A River of Words<\/u>,\u00a0about William Carlos Williams, the pediatrician and poet who wrote and administered to families in my hometown of Rutherford, New Jersey. His son also followed his father in a medical career and was my pediatrician. It turns out that Williams, despite fragile health\u00a0in his later years, mentored younger poets at his home. One of them was Denise\u00a0Levertov, a favorite of yours.<\/p>\n
George\u201d<\/p>\n
George and I met in early September 1973 as we both began finding our way around U Penn\u2019s PhD program in American Civilization. These 45 years later we remain good friends who sometimes trade stories of insight or grief or beauty. \u00a0Last May, George surprised me. \u00a0One day, reading the Work Day\/Hard Times poetry list, he recognized that the poets William Carlos Williams and Denise Levertov often appeared there. \u00a0Until last May, I had no notion that they\u00a0shared a living\u00a0room where Williams listened to Levertov\u2019s young voice and told her what he heard \u2013 \u2013 a magical inter-generational mentoring kinship.<\/p>\n
Two poets, two poems.\u00a0\u00a0I hope you can find time to read each one out loud, with pauses. \u00a0They will be worth the time. \u00a0Have a\u00a0blest day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
john sj<\/p>\n
p.s.\u00a0Just now, c. 6:30 am here on the foothill slope of the Rocky Mountains, lovely snow has been falling since the middle of the night, large flakes helped along by gusts of wind.\u00a0 I woke to 3 degrees Fahrenheit and notable snow.<\/p>\n
Post #1: \u00a0William Carlos Williams,\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Manoeuvre\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n I saw the two starlings turned in the air together William Carlos Williams \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Post #2: \u00a0\u00a0Denise Levertov, \u00a0\u201cThe Poem Rising By Its Own Weight\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2018The poet is at the disposal of his own night.\u2019 The singing robes fly onto your body and cling there silkily, And seize the fiery knives unscathed and And proudly let the chains but when your graceful Denise Levertov Wednesday, October 30 Pre-note: These two poets have long been alive in my reading life, William Carlos Williams and Denise Levertov. \u00a0A friend from U Penn\u2019s grad program where we met in 1993, surprised me with the news that these … Continue reading
\ncoming in toward the wires
\nBut at the last,
\njust before alighting, they<\/p>\n
\nand landed backwards!
\nthat\u2019s what got me \u2014
\nto face into the wind\u2019s teeth.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2014\/04\/William-Carlos-Williams.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSeptember 17, 1883 \u2013 March 4, 1963
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/William_Carlos_Williams<\/a><\/p>\n
\nJean Cocteau<\/p>\n
\nYou step out on the rope and move unfalteringly across it,<\/p>\n
\nKeep them spinning above you, a fountain
\nOf rhythmic rising, falling, rising
\nFlames,<\/p>\n
\nBe wound about you, ready
\nTo shed them, link by steel link,
\npadlock by padlock\u2013<\/p>\n
\nconfident shrug and twist drives the metal
\ninto your flesh and the python grip of it tightens
\nand you see rust on the chains and blood in your pores
\nand you roll
\nover and down a steepness into a dark hole
\nand there is not even the sound of mockery in the distant air
\nsomewhere above you where the sky was,
\nno sound but your own breath panting:
\nthen it is that the miracle
\nwalks in, on his swift feet,
\ndown the precipice straight into the cave,
\nopens the locks,
\nknots of chain fall open,
\ntwists of chain unwind themselves,
\nlinks fall asunder,
\nin seconds there is a heap of scrap-
\nmetal at your ankles, you step free and at once
\nhe turns to go \u2014
\nbut as you catch at him with a cry,
\nclasping his knees, sobbing your gratitude,
\nwith what radiant joy he turns to you,
\nand raises you to your feet,
\nand strokes your disheveled hair,
\nand holds you,
\nholds you,
\nholds you
\nclose and tenderly before he vanishes.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nOctober 24, 1923 \u2013 December 20, 1997
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Denise_Levertov<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"