Thursday, August 13, 2020

Doing it again

No one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley.
-William Goldman




Hi y'all! Happy Poetry Friday!

I'm going to tell you about a couple of poetry-unrelated conversations I had with family members recently. It will circle around to poetry, I promise.

My son Dash cooked dinner for us last week. Normally, I do all the cooking because our family has seriously complicated dietary restraints. Dash volunteered, though, and he came to me to discuss what would be on the menu. "This is like solving a sudoku puzzle," he said.


The other day, I told Matthew (Ariana's boyfriend) that I had been thinking about how I was like the Dread Pirate Roberts. He laughed and teased me that he wondered which of the many things we had in common I was talking about. I explained that each time I fix a meal, I feel like that's it, I won't be able to do it next time. Which reminded me of the Dread Pirate Roberts telling Westley at the end of each day, "Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning." I guess I'm more like the flipside of DPR (his more convivial sister?). Instead of thinking that I'm going to do something, I think that I'm not. "Nicely done. Too bad you won't be able to do it again!" But then I do it again.

What does this have to do with poetry? Have you ever thought you didn't have any more poems in you? Wondered if the last thing you wrote was the Last Thing you'll write? Not to worry, you have plenty more in you. Maybe not right now, but give them a little time and they will bubble up like you wouldn't believe. Maybe sometimes you need a break, but you can't count yourself out.

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For today's poem, follow this link for Everything is Going to Be All Right by Derek Mahon, read by Andrew Scott. It makes me tear up! (You'll probably recognize Andrew Scott, even if you don't know his name.)

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Nix the Comfort Zone has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Molly!

15 comments:

Carol Varsalona said...

In my quest for quiet spaces, this poem takes me to a place of contemplation and hope. "Everything is Going to Be All Right."

Linda Mitchell said...

Oh, my goodness...I didn't expect it but this post brought a tear to my eye. You trying to make things work in the kitchen for your family, your son trying to learn it too, the connection to the pirate and then that poem. Someone saying, "everything will be alright" like they mean it -- like it's true. I think I've been holding my breath a long time. I really needed to hear that poem. Thank you.

Linda B said...

A friend sent me this poem this week, Tabatha, after I had posted a small poem about clouds, too. It feels like a touch of calm after so much chaos in our year. I like your words about keeping going and even your son ready to keep going too, this time in that challenge of the meal-making. My daughter (a bit ago) told me she had kept a count of how many meals she had prepared since March & struggled to believe it. I am ever hopeful.

KatApel - katswhiskers.wordpress.com said...

Oh this! I used to panic that if I went on holidays, I might forget how to write... But now I know that if I take a break, I come back with so much MORE to write! (And even without your mealtime complications, I too have been wondering on repeat, what on earth will I cook tonight. It feels like I have exhausted all my options. Yet somehow, we eat again...)

Take care, dear Tabatha. I'm so glad Dash took his turn in meal prep.

Ruth said...

<3 You're so right about so many things in this post. And the sunrise does remind me that everything's going to be all right.

mbhmaine said...

I love posts like this that wander in a meaningful way from one idea/moment to another, weaving them all together into a delightful whole. Thanks for the link to that beautiful poem and its moving recitation (or maybe incantation?). These lines: "and the hidden source is the watchful heart." Ahhh....

Janice Scully said...

Yes, Tabatha, I understand about feeling that there is a bottom to creativity, that I'll never think of anything new, but it's not true. One has to believe that. I've seen Andrew Scott in an on-line play recently and he's fascinating to watch and hear Mahon's poem. I loved how he says , "The sun rises in spite of everything."

Bridget Magee said...

It's funny (in an absolutely non-humorous way) how we doubt ourselves...at every turn. Your post instills hope and promise and family love, Tabatha. Thank you for all of that. And thank you for sharing Derek Mahon's poem through the voice of Andrew Scott - he's dubbed "the hot priest" for a reason. ;)

jan godown annino said...

O Tabatha, our Mamala, our Cheer-Bringer, our Soul-Soother.
I love this post so very very much.
Many appreciations of the season of summer bumble fumbles.
xo

Jeanne said...

Lovely, what you say about doing it again and the poem, and Scott's reading of it. Thanks.

Michelle Kogan said...

Thanks for sharing this needed, strong, poem Tabatha–helps to take a big breath in and keep going–somehow we do. What a challenge you have in the kitchen-I present some of those challenges too. Wonderful that Dash took on that challenge, thanks, xo

Mary Lee said...

Between your post and Robyn's, my tears won't stop flowing. Thank you for this post, for this poem, for those words to resonate in my mind ("Everything's going to be all right.") along with "Keep it between the ditches." You give me strength for whatever the new school year brings!

Matt Forrest Esenwine said...

I do, indeed, feel like that - and far too often for comfort, I might add. I suppose if I was going to make use of another Princess Bride quote, I think about every time I feel depleted and have nothing left, but then start writing: "Depleted." "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." ;)

By the way, several years ago I asked Tomie dePaola if he ever felt that was - as if he'd just written the best thing he'd ever write and would likely never write anything as incredible again. "What do you do?" I asked. Tomie chuckled and replied, "Well, the first thing I'd do is go get myself a drink!" Ha!

Karin Fisher-Golton said...

"Everything Is Going to Be All Right" is lovely. The Sun is a sweet constant. I'm such a fan of The Princess Bride, and have had that line in my head too. And I also relate to the food situation. I try to make things multiple people can eat, but usually each plate has a different grouping. I call it the Venn diagram of dining. The only thing I didn't relate to intensely in your post was the idea of running out of poems. A few years of writing a poem-a-day for a month cured me of that. They always come, though sometimes they need to be found, like the Sun behind a cloud.

Catherine Flynn said...

Thank you for the reassurance, Tabatha, and Andrew Scott reading "Everything is Going to Be All Right." We mustn't doubt the power of a "watchful heart."