Everyone sees, feels, responds to the poetry of the world every day. In a sunrise over rooftops, a dogwood in bloom, a child’s bike leaning against a fence, a pair of tennis shoes hanging by their laces from a telephone wire, a moth’s wings spread on the screen door, the sound of a train in the distance, the smell of fresh bread. Everyone falls in love with the world daily and we have no words for what spellbinds us. Poems need to be made to recognize that sense of wordless awe.
~ Dorianne Laux, 5 Questions with Dorianne Laux (Mass Poetry, April 2018)
Notes:
- My favorite Laux poem:
How many losses does it take to stop a heart,
to lay waste to the vocabularies of desire?
Each one came rushing through the rooms he left.
Mouths open. Words flown up into the trees.— Dorianne Laux, closing lines to “Last Words,” in Smoke (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2000)
- Laux Fun Fact: Laux worked as a sanatorium cook, a gas station manager, and a maid before receiving a B.A. in English from Mills College in 1988 and went on to her distinguished career.
- Poem Source: Lines We Live By. Portrait and Interview of Laux: Divedapper (2014)
ah, the amazing power of poetry
And most don’t even know it!
Laux is amazing and I am so grateful for those who can express and remind us of the simple beauty in every moment. 🙏🏻
me too Karen…
Poetry is my cheap means of transportation. By the end of the poem the reader should be in a different place from where he started. I would like him to be slightly disoriented at the end, like I drove him outside of town at night and dropped him off in a cornfield…… Billy Collins
Cheap means of transportation. LOVE THAT! Thank you
What an outstanding, wonderful comment this is! I will have to note that sentence down…. that’s me too – but not only poetry, writing in general takes me away to places and let’s me get transformed …. for a while. No passport needed either!
Such beauty to fall in love with every day. Love this.
And love your favourite poem too.
Have a great day!
Thanks Dale!
Finding the poetry in the world each day. A laudable goal….
I’m workin’ at it! 🙂
“Everyone falls in love with the world daily” may this be so! Thank you, David, for taking us there. and Laux and Billy Collins….
Smiling. Thanks Valerie. It’s all (you included) are pulling me along…
Thank God for poets; they get so many of us through a rough spot, and also awaken others to beauty.
Sure does Angeline…
Thank you for introducing me to so many American writers…. So short a life and so filled with unknown beauty, intelligence, wisdom!
Smiling. Well said
Laux is a favorite.. love her work.
Mine too Dan. Thanks for stopping by. Your blog is a daily inspiration for me….