Saturday Morning

~ Live & Learn

Oh, the coming-out-of-nowhere moment
when, nothing
happens
no what-have-I-to-do-today-list

maybe half a moment
the rush of traffic stops.
The whir of I should be, I should be, I should be
slows to silence,
the white cotton curtains hanging still.

~ Marie Howe, “The Moment” (via Poets.org)

Photo: Eylül Aslan

29 thoughts on “Saturday Morning”

  7. Such pauses are so rare and unexpected and impossible to duplicate. I love them, but I’m sure that some people who are used to being all a-jangle most of the time, such pauses could give them a bit of a shock. I mean …what to do with silence and still? It’s all this must-be-doing something all the time that causes the undervaluing of pauses. As a musician, I see musical rests as much a part of the music as are the sounds either side of them.

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    2. Sarah – as a amateur, non professional musician and singer I am deeply engulfed in the book The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce. Do you know it? If yes, do you also like it so much?! If not, I think you’d greatly enjoy it. It’s as much about silences than it is about music, even more so and has some fantastic ‘stories’ to tell about their composers and ‘their’ life’s story.

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      1. Hi Kiki, I haven’t read The Music Shop, but thanks so much for the recommendation I will check it out. Have you read Rose Tremain’s historical novel “Music and Silence” set in 17th century Denmark? It’s a great favourite of mine.

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        1. oh YESSSSS – but then I’ve read every book by her. She is so hugely talented. I wouldn’t put Music Shop in the same category but it’s very much about the meaning of silences in the music as well as the music itself. And it’s beautifully written just like all her books. Surely, you have heard of her titles: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy?!

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          3. It’s fabulous, Dave — one of those novels that sell through word of mouth because they’re utterly beautiful and totally moving, and you want to share this beauty with your friends. I stumbled upon Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine in the same way. Both novels were founding members of the genre “uplit”. May there be many more such novels to promote the feelgood factor that we all so need in a world that’s got rather too vindictive for my liking.

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  9. We all need more moments of refresh…thankful for you, DK as you continually introduce ways for people to discover and appreciate lightness and what it brings to our lives…
    oh the little garavatar photo is of Gladys Kravitz peering out from behind her curtains!!! I always smile when I see her photo or hear her memorialized voice calling Abner (Bewitched tv show)

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