Thursday, June 9, 2022

Made whole by opening

What could be more interesting, or in the end, more ecstatic, than in those rare moments when you see another person look at something you’ve made, and realize that they got it exactly, that your heart jumped to their heart with nothing in between.
~Robert Motherwell



For Poetry Friday, a poem that will stay with me.

Heart
by Maggie Smith

A child of, say, six knows you’re not the shape
she’s learned to make by drawing half along a fold,
cutting, then opening. Where do you open?
Where do you carry your dead? There’s no locket
for that—hinged, hanging on a chain that greens
your throat. And the dead inside you, don’t you
hear them breathing? You must have a hole
they can press their gray lips to. If you open—

read the rest here

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Buffy Silverman has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Buffy!

13 comments:

Linda Mitchell said...

Oh, my...yes, I can see how this poem will stay with you, stay with me too. The whole poem opens with the wow of what's inside and is revealed by the end. Excellent choice for PF today. Thank you.

Linda B said...

She asks, then answers for us, Tabatha, & it's what is true for every goodbye. Thanks for this loving poem.

Irene Latham said...

I sure do hear them breathing. I love what this poem brings up for me. Thank you! xo

Jeanne said...

Wow. What a great poem.

jama said...

What a wonderful poem. You always find the good ones, T. Thanks for sharing. xo

Buffy Silverman said...

Is Elena's photo of a redbud tree? Gorgeous leaves, gorgeous poem. And this captured a six-year old perspective so well: "If you open—
when you open—will we find them folded inside?"

Carol J. Labuzzetta said...

Wow! This is a very wonderful poem. It is so deep and thoughtful. Thank you for sharing it.

laurasalas said...

Tabatha--what a mesmerizing poem. Thank you for sharing it. Opening our hearts--the task of our lifetimes.

Michelle Kogan said...

Thanks for sharing Maggie Smith's ♥️-wrenching and introspective poem Tabatha. I think only the heart is made
whole by opening."

Love the ancestral layers-our dead in this too. I carried some of them with me yesterday when I had dental surgery, and they helped, but alas the pain still lingers…
please thank Elena for her her gorgeous glimmer-filled heart images!

Mary Lee said...

I've been missing Mom more than usual in the past week or two. This poem helps. And hurts. I'm with you; it will stay with me.

Bridget Magee said...

Oof...this is a powerful poem. Thanks for always making me think, Tabatha. :)

Patricia Franz said...

Ah yes, that last line will remain with me. Thank you, Tabatha!

Denise Krebs said...

Thanks for sharing, Tabatha. The title of your post got me thinking, and then the poem clarified. Such a beautiful thought--only the heart "made
whole by opening." Yes!