{"id":683,"date":"2014-08-20T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T00:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=683"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:50:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:50:19","slug":"aug-20-confident-shrug-and-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2014\/08\/20\/aug-20-confident-shrug-and-twist\/","title":{"rendered":"Aug 20 – “confident shrug and twist”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, August 20 \u2014 freshmen orientation week<\/p>\n

St. Ignatius, sometime in the mid-16th century when he found himself giving birth to \u00a0the Jesuits, is said to have observed now and again that he preferred \u00a0Jesuits who \u201cneed a bridle rather than spurs.\u201d \u00a0The saying sticks in the mind and calls attention to many Jesuits who have run risks. More than 50 of my kinsmen have been murdered in the last half century, mostly because they stirred ambition and hope in people worn down by grief and despair, giving voice to the voiceless. \u00a0 At our best, Jesuits nurture risk-takers.<\/p>\n

At our best UDM does that; we say to our students: \u00a0“Take on challenges, throw your energy right at the world, \u00a0fall in love with our city, \u00a0look for demanding professors, risk some failures. \u00a0That\u2019s what we begin to tell these young women and men during orientation days. \u00a0It\u2019s hard work for everyone involved. \u00a0 We university employees \u00a0prepare to be there for these students when they get in over their heads and to confront them when they get cocky or lose their nerve. \u00a0The teaching of faculty and the mentoring of every one who works here is so hard because we risk too. \u00a0We bet the farm on these young people, we risk falling in love with them year after year. \u00a0It\u2019s quite a life.<\/p>\n

Denise Levertov wrote a\u00a0poem I call one of my “top 5 lifetime,\u201d though there are many more than 5 of these. \u00a0 Dedicated this morning at the dawn of a new academic year, to all of us who stake our hopes in learning and teaching and mentoring and challenging.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

john st sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post – “The Poem Rising By Its Own Weight”<\/b><\/p>\n

The poet is at the disposal of his own night.<\/p>\n

Jean Cocteau<\/p>\n

The singing robes fly onto your body and cling there silkily,<\/p>\n

You step out on the rope and move unfalteringly across it,<\/p>\n

And seize the fiery knives unscathed and<\/p>\n

Keep them spinning above you, a fountain<\/p>\n

Of rhythmic rising, falling, rising<\/p>\n

Flames,<\/p>\n

And proudly let the chains<\/p>\n

Be wound about you, ready<\/p>\n

To shed them, link by steel link,<\/p>\n

padlock by padlock–<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

but when your graceful<\/p>\n

confident shrug and twist drives the metal<\/p>\n

into your flesh and the python grip of it tightens<\/p>\n

and you see rust on the chains and blood in your pores<\/p>\n

and you roll<\/p>\n

over and down a steepness into a dark hole<\/p>\n

and there is not even the sound of mockery in the distant air<\/p>\n

somewhere above you where the sky was,<\/p>\n

no sound but your own breath panting:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

then it is that the miracle<\/p>\n

walks in, on his swift feet,<\/p>\n

down the precipice straight into the cave,<\/p>\n

opens the locks,<\/p>\n

knots of chain fall open,<\/p>\n

twists of chain unwind themselves,<\/p>\n

links fall asunder,<\/p>\n

in seconds there is a heap of scrap-<\/p>\n

metal at your ankles, you step free and at once<\/p>\n

he turns to go —<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

but as you catch at him with a cry,<\/p>\n

clasping his knees, sobbing your gratitude,<\/p>\n

with what radiant joy he turns to you,<\/p>\n

and raises you to your feet,<\/p>\n

and strokes your disheveled hair,<\/p>\n

and holds you,<\/p>\n

holds you,<\/p>\n

holds you<\/p>\n

close and tenderly before he vanishes.<\/p>\n

The Freeing of the Dust
\n<\/span>Denise Levertov\u00a0\u00a0(1923-1997)
\nAcademy of American Poets \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.poets.org\/poetsorg\/poet\/denise-levertov<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Denise-Levertov\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, August 20 \u2014 freshmen orientation week St. Ignatius, sometime in the mid-16th century when he found himself giving birth to \u00a0the Jesuits, is said to have observed now and again that he preferred \u00a0Jesuits who \u201cneed a bridle rather … 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\/683"}],"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=683"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":686,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683\/revisions\/686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}