The Poetry Prescription.

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Todays page in Simple Abundance urges us to re-discover poetry, both so that we should experience our own view of the world through someone else’s eyes and so that we can for a moment taste emotions we may have forgotton through an art form which in my opinion has no equal.

While racking my brains to think which were my favorite poems, it struck me that those that really spoke me, told of situations I don’t necessarily relate to, but which have the power to bring tears unbidden to my eyes, or send a gentle shiver down my neck.

Reading poetry isn’t the same as reading a novel: there is no room for transience; no space for waste and so what we get are slim volumes through which we must plough to find those few poems that touch something deep inside us and momentarily allow us to be who we authentically are. That said, it doesn’t necessarily have to be demanding: poetry isn’t the elitist nonsensical form it once was, and modern poetry now delivers it’s most poignant words in the simplest of stanzas…

We all have our favorites. Stevies Smith’s "Not Waving But Drowning" will haunt me forever, and if you haven’t read Carol Ann Duffy, then please allow me to introduce you to a writer, who will break your heart. Both Adultery and Moments of Grace are scrawled in my illustrated discovery journal and read over and over. Perhaps she isn’t for everybody, but I have found few modern women writers to compare…

But for today, it is Judith Viorst who thrills the parts of me not much can reach, and so in honour of Sarah Ban Breathnach, I present to you a poem, that part of me suspects we can all relate to…

Some Advice From A Mother To Her Married Son.

The answer to do you love me isn’t, I married you, didn’t I?
Or, Can’t we discuss this after the ballgame is through?
It isn’t, Well that all depends on what you mean by ‘love’.
Or even, Come to bed and I’ll prove that I do.
The answer isn’t, How can I talk about love when
the bacon is burned and the house is an absolute mess and
the children are screaming their heads off and
I’m going to miss my bus?
The answer is yes.
The answer is yes.
The answer is yes.

Judith Viorst.

Which poem will go in your journal today?