SOL 18: Living in a Poem
Posted on March 22nd, 2018
According to Naomi Shihab Nye, we are living in a poem. She explains that “when you think, when you’re in a very quiet place, when you’re remembering, when you’re savoring an image, when you’re allowing your mind calmly to leap from one thought to another — that’s a poem. That’s what a poem does.” (On Being episode, March 15, 2018.)
The statement is so simple yet profound that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I listened to the podcast yesterday. All day long, I wished somehow for a teaching do-over.
What if I had known that amazing statement and used it as our beginning point as we read poems? As I remember those long ago lessons, those learners’ faces, those conversations, I savor those experiences and allow my mind to leap from one memory to another and ponder possibilities that will never be. I live in my own poem of reflection, my thoughts leaping from one remembered face to another, feeling that synergy that occasionally drew us all together as fellow learners, not teacher and pupils.
Nye always has some simply beautiful things to say. Her poem “Shoulders” is one I include when I post poems during the month of April on Facebook. I will definitely check out this episode of “On Being.” Isn’t it Archibald Macleish who said, “A poem should not mean but be”? Maybe that’s true for living, too; in the being is the meaning.
So the moments we linger (or agonize) over deciding what to write for a slice is all part of the poetry of life. Thanks!
I will have to check out this podcast. What a good reminder about the days and the poetry it uncovers as long as we are paying attention.
Thank you for passing this along. I, too, love that synergy with my students as we share in a discovery or story. There is beauty in poetry.
Yeah! You listened to the podcast! And guess what, you have today and tomorrow to notice how you are living in a poem!!
What a beautiful quote. Thank you for sharing it! I love your line: “I live in my own poem of reflection, my thoughts leaping from one remembered face to another.” I am smiling to think about all my memories of past teaching years being a poem.
I love that you are reflecting on your practice in this slice. You will most definitely remember Nye’s words when you introduce poetry to a new crop of students. Meanwhile, who says it’s too late to share it with your current students? Think of it as fine-tuning their existing practice. Thanks for the link.
like the reflective quality of your post — and love Naomi – she rocks
may you poem well : )
I’m so glad that you included the link to Naomi Shihab Nye’s podcast. I read about it yesterday in someone’s post, but failed to download it. And now I’ve been given a second chance. Something tells me that you’re being hard on yourself. I think that synergy you mention probably occurred more than occasionally. You should join the Poetry Friday group. It’s a great way to share and experience more poetry (this from someone who’s only an occasional participant).
Isn’t that the most stunning idea, that we’re all living in a poem? I wish that Krista Tippett would interview poets more often because her interviews with Nye and with Mary Oliver have really stuck with me! I longed for a teaching do-over after I listened to the podcast too–wanted to include more poetry in my courses this semester, wanted to introduce my students to this idea.