[lit-ideas] Re: Sunlight
- From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2011 11:15:12 -0400
Reminds me of Leo Lionni's *Frederick, *one of my daughter's favorites when
she was a little girl. You can find a YouTube
rendition<http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=leo+lionni+frederick&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8>here.
Frederick is a space-out mouse who wanders around looking dopey while the
other mice are gathering supplies for the winter. Then, as the supplies
begin to run out, they ask him what he has gathered. He describes his
memories of the summer and they say, "Frederick, you're a poet." To which he
replies, "I know it."
John
On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 10:46 AM, Julie Krueger <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> This graced my inbox this morning -- thought I'd share. Apologize for the
> font and centering, etc., but my "rich text editor" has evaporated for some
> reason.
>
> Julie Krueger
>
> The Word
>
> by Tony
> Hoagland<http://www.elabs7.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=fj6,sefv,dv,jfau,1gch,m9hw,l29c>
>
> Down near the bottom
> of the crossed-out list
> of things you have to do today,
>
> between "green thread"
> and "broccoli," you find
> that you have penciled "sunlight."
>
> Resting on the page, the word
> is beautiful. It touches you
> as if you had a friend
>
> and sunlight were a present
> he had sent from someplace distant
> as this morning—to cheer you up,
>
> and to remind you that,
> among your duties, pleasure
> is a thing
>
> that also needs accomplishing.
> Do you remember?
> that time and light are kinds
>
> of love, and love
> is no less practical
> than a coffee grinder
>
> or a safe spare tire?
> Tomorrow you may be utterly
> without a clue,
>
> but today you get a telegram
> from the heart in exile,
> proclaiming that the kingdom
>
> still exists,
> the king and queen alive,
> still speaking to their children,
>
> —to any one among them
> who can find the time
> to sit out in the sun and listen.
>
> "The Word" by Tony Hoagland, from *Sweet Ruin*. © University of Wisconsin
> Press, 1992. Reprinted with permission. (buy
> now<http://www.elabs7.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=fj6,sefv,dv,he3h,l3oa,m9hw,l29c>
> )
>
>
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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