{"id":3611,"date":"2020-08-17T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T04:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/?p=3611"},"modified":"2020-08-17T09:20:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T13:20:00","slug":"august-17-university-convocation-david-whyte-start-close-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2020\/08\/17\/august-17-university-convocation-david-whyte-start-close-in\/","title":{"rendered":"August 17 – University Convocation – David Whyte “Start Close In”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, \u00a0August 17, \u00a02020
\n\u201cthe step
\nyou don\u2019t want to take\u201d \u00a0David Whyte<\/p>\n

Convocation gathers women and men who come to work at our 3 campuses, week in and week out, to take the thousands of small steps that make a university come to life again and again. \u00a0In our tradition, today marks the first of those small steps, a day in the August calendar dedicated to beginning again.<\/p>\n

David Whyte writes about 1st steps. \u00a0Reading this poem on this particular day, gives me a taste of rebirth. \u00a0I hope for you too. \u00a0 We live days of tedious bickering in the U.S. political world, days of alarming anger, days of fear. \u00a0Today, our first day convoking one another in the act of \u201cbeginning,\u201d \u00a0may we find grace in the poet\u2019s words, grace and some surprises, even stunning hope and joy.<\/p>\n

Best to read out loud with pauses.<\/p>\n

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

john sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post: \u00a0\u201cStart Close In\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Start close in,
\ndon\u2019t take the second step
\nor the third,
\nstart with the first
\nthing
\nclose in,
\nthe step
\nyou don\u2019t want to take.<\/p>\n

Start with
\nthe ground
\nyou know,
\nthe pale ground
\nbeneath your feet,
\nyour own
\nway to begin
\nthe conversation.<\/p>\n

Start with your own
\nquestion,
\ngive up on other
\npeople\u2019s questions,
\ndon\u2019t let them
\nsmother something
\nsimple.<\/p>\n

To hear
\nanother\u2019s voice,
\nfollow
\nyour own voice,
\nwait until
\nthat voice<\/p>\n

becomes an
\nintimate
\nprivate ear
\nthat can
\nreally listen
\nto another.<\/p>\n

Start right now
\ntake a small step
\nyou can call your own
\ndon\u2019t follow
\nsomeone else\u2019s
\nheroics, be humble
\nand focused,
\nstart close in,
\ndon\u2019t mistake
\nthat other
\nfor your own.<\/p>\n

Start close in,
\ndon\u2019t take
\nthe second step
\nor the third,
\nstart with the first
\nthing
\nclose in,
\nthe step
\nyou don\u2019t want to take.<\/p>\n

River Flow: New & Selected Poems<\/u>
\nMany Rivers Press<\/p>\n

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

David Whyte b. 1955<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, \u00a0August 17, \u00a02020 \u201cthe step you don\u2019t want to take\u201d \u00a0David Whyte Convocation gathers women and men who come to work at our 3 campuses, week in and week out, to take the thousands of small steps that make … 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\/3611"}],"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=3611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3612,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3611\/revisions\/3612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}