{"id":3850,"date":"2021-04-14T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T04:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/?p=3850"},"modified":"2021-04-14T13:17:42","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T17:17:42","slug":"wednesday-april-14-david-whyte-between-winter-and-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2021\/04\/14\/wednesday-april-14-david-whyte-between-winter-and-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Wednesday – April 14 – David Whyte – between winter and spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo hear
\nanother\u2019s voice,
\nfollow
\nyour own voice\u201d<\/p>\n

This post appeared almost a year ago (April 16, 2020, to be precise). We sibs gathered at our sister Mary\u2019s home for her April 13 birthday.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how I began the contextual paragraph that day. \u201cI am writing from my sister Mary\u2019s snow-bound home where 20+ inches of snow has blown around for 2 days of blizzard winds (c. 25 mph). \u00a0Lovely for sure; every few minutes a car drives by the riverfront road.\u201d What a difference eleven months makes! This first half of April 2021has scattered hints of spring here and there around Detroit, though my Lakota daughter-soul friend, Mary Tobacco, tells me that they are digging out from a hefty blizzard today in South Dakota.<\/p>\n

April offers unpredictable weather twitches, no? \u00a0A blizzard-loving person like myself may yet be pulling on my high top snow boots. I\u2019m not taking responsibility for the weather though; \u201cenjoying\u201d does not = \u201ccausing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s poem by David Whyte has blessed me several times over the Work Day\/Hard Time poetry list\u2019s seven-year existence. \u00a0Best to read the poem out loud, with pauses, several times over the day. Have a blest Wednesday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

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

Marinette blizzard for Mary St\u2019s birthday – 2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post: \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

from\u00a0River Flow: New & Selected Poems
\nMany Rivers Press<\/p>\n

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

David Whyte b. 1955
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_Whyte_(poet)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo hear another\u2019s voice, follow your own voice\u201d This post appeared almost a year ago (April 16, 2020, to be precise). We sibs gathered at our sister Mary\u2019s home for her April 13 birthday. Here\u2019s how I began the contextual … 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\/3850"}],"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=3850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3851,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions\/3851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}