L.L. here with Random Acts of Poetry. Stuck on the parkway. That’s where I was when I had two reactions. One, annoyance. Because after dropping the kids off, this was supposed to be my home-alone day, and I was about to spend it in an old Subaru, doing time in six miles worth of construction delay.
I sighed and gripped the steering wheel. Then I had a second thought. I’d been musing on the word hibernate and a poem began to form. I couldn’t wait to get home to write it down, and I started to fidget. This was going to be a long six miles.
Then it occurred to me that I could pilfer the bag of kid-notebooks sitting on the passenger seat and even find a brand new pen in the funky color of my choice. I carefully stole (I mean, permanently borrowed) a sheet of paper from a dark blue notebook, flicked open a bright green pen, and began.
This all reminds me of Ann Kroeker’s anecdote in Not So Fast, about people in other countries who bring along picnic baskets and make the most of events that are the equivalent of spending a day at a Department of Motor Vehicles. For me, it was a kind of picnic to enjoy six miles of standstill traffic by penning a poem.
In fact, the six miles went so fast (or I wrote the poem so slowly), that I soon found myself wishing I could sit for just a few more minutes. But it was time to exit and get back to 55 miles per hour.
This week, our featured poems recognize the blessing of being “slowed.” I’ve excerpted two.
The first excerpt is from nAncY’s poem book…
camping out
in the snow and ice
in a tent
loose fitting and warm clothes
doubled up sleeping bags
enough food for a huge breakfast
and no ipod
what was he thinking?
The second excerpt is from Maureen’s poem Not a Rush…
Water doesn’t always
have to
swirl,
rush,
drop,
fall,
erode,
to eddy
the way love can hover
and get your back up.
When it somehow
knows to lull…
ALL RAP PARTICIPANTS
LL’s Coming
Prairie Chick’s Just Breathe
Laura’s Trains
Linda’s A Stroll
Mom2Six’s Brakes
Glynn’s Slowing at the Faulkner Bookhouse
Monica’s Calligraphy Slows
Sarah’s The Dawn
Kelly’s escape
Bina’s Celebration of Slowing
nAncY’s book
Maureen’s Not a Rush
Marcus’s The Price of Renewal
nAncY’s food
Next week, join us with Sam Van Eman for another Culture post. RAP will resume the following week. Check out his article for your next poetry prompt (scroll to bottom). See you soon, and enjoy the parkway, the DMV, or whatever unexpectedly slows you.
Bird on Hand Statue photo by Elizabeth O. Weller. Used with permission. Post by L.L. Barkat.
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i like your story of waiting in traffic and finding yourself writing a poem.
poetry (not) in motion.
I never leave the house without scratch paper and a pen.
Going to check out that story of Ann’s. Wow. What a thought.
Okay. So I bought the book. It was only a matter of time…
I enjoy your poetry and Nancy’s. Somewhat unconventional, but creative and enough to stir your thinking mechansm. On the subject of “slowing down,” it triggered a couple thoughts. One was the memory of a once very well-known evangelist/philosopher, Dr. Vance Havner. When I heard him address what Jesus said, sensing His disciples were getting up tight and about to “burn out:” “Come apart and rest a while.” Jesus viewed those time-outs or slow-downs as essential to good spiritual health. Another thought was how Jesus dealt with slow downs and interruptions of plans. Have you noticed that He was never in a hurry? Have you noticed how He handled interruptions?
Good work on your part and your friends! ~donkimrey
Oops. After taking time to introduce Dr. Havener, I neglected to tell you what he said about Jesus’ invitation to take “time out.” With his wry, dry sense of humour, Dr. Havner told us there are times when we MUST come apart, or else we’ll come apart. Unglued. As in, he’s come undone! ~don
Thanks, everyone. I did not write a RAP this week, but came across a good poem in this vein by Wallace Stevens: “The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm.”
Didn’t like the thought of sitting in a Subaru, did ya?
Post by L.L. Learning space facilitated by Subaru.