{"id":3438,"date":"2020-04-13T00:00:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T04:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/?p=3438"},"modified":"2020-04-13T10:31:18","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T14:31:18","slug":"april-13-ellen-bass-the-thing-is-thomas-merton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2020\/04\/13\/april-13-ellen-bass-the-thing-is-thomas-merton\/","title":{"rendered":"April 13 – Ellen Bass – “The Thing is” — Thomas Merton"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
\nThomas Merton<\/p>\n

A Birthday Note to My Sister<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good morning, Mary. \u00a0I chose this amazing sentence from Thomas Merton for your birthday. \u00a0 Over the years of your life, your eyes have seen people, young and old, women and men, \u201call walking around shining like the sun,\u201d \u00a0and made the world better each time.<\/p>\n

I will call you later on this day of your birthday.<\/p>\n

love you<\/p>\n

Monday, April 13<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just above is my birthday note to greet \u00a0my sister who lives in our home town of Marinette, Wisconsin. \u00a0I love this one-line sentence written by Thomas Merton when a young adult near the beginning of his astonishing life as a world famous writer and mystic. \u00a0 It happens that he died \u2014 too young \u2014 on my birthday in 1968 while at a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.<\/p>\n

Ellen Bass has roots in Philadelphia (b. June 16, 1947) and Boston (Goucher College, Boston University). \u00a0A soul friend from Fordham University in New York, sent this poem last week. \u00a0 \u201cThe Thing is\u201d written with what another poet friend would call \u201cflint-hard\u201d word choices. \u00a0A strong poem for these hard times.<\/p>\n

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

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post: \u00a0Ellen Bass\u00a0\u201cThe Thing is\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

to love life, to love it even
\nwhen you have no stomach for it
\nand everything you’ve held dear
\ncrumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
\nyour throat filled with the silt of it.
\nWhen grief sits with you, its tropical heat
\nthickening the air, heavy as water
\nmore fit for gills than lungs;
\nwhen grief weights you like your own flesh
\nonly more of it, an obesity of grief,
\nyou think, How can a body withstand this?
\nThen you hold life like a face,
\nno charming smile, no violet eyes,
\nand you say, yes, I will take you
\nI will love you, again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nEllen Bass
\nhttps:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poets\/ellen-bass<\/a><\/p>\n

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

\u201cThere is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.” Thomas Merton A Birthday Note to My Sister Good morning, Mary. \u00a0I chose this amazing sentence from Thomas Merton for your birthday. \u00a0 … 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\/3438"}],"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=3438"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3442,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438\/revisions\/3442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}