Suddenly, sun. Over my shoulder
in the middle of gray November
what I hoped to do comes back,
asking.
Across the street the fiery trees
hold onto their leaves,
red and gold in the final months
of this unfinished year,
they offer blazing riddles.
In the frozen fields of my life
there are no shortcuts to spring,
but stories of great birds in migration
carrying small ones on their backs,
predators flying next to warblers
they would, in a different season, eat.
Stunned by the astonishing mix in this uneasy world
that plunges in a single day from despair
to hope and back again, I commend my life
to Ruskin’s difficult duty of delight,
and to that most beautiful form of courage,
to be happy.
"What the Day Gives," by Jeanne Lohmann, from The Light of Invisible Bodies: Poems. © Daniel and Daniel Publishing, 2003.Photography credit: "Dance of the Migration," by Jan Piller (originally black and white).
So charming!
ReplyDeleteWhat a thought provoking poem. Can anyone point me to the source of the Ruskin quote?
ReplyDeleteIt comes from the title of his book THE DUTY OF DELIGHT.
DeleteThank you. I googled and googled, but still was unsure. Thank you for allowing this site to remain. I'm following all three years.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me happy to hear that the site is a great resource for you!
DeleteBack again, and this morning I found a blog response both to Ruskin and Ms. Lohmann that expanded understanding and meaning of our duty. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteI'm also continuing to read my way through the site, now in my third year. Sharing the Ruskin reference I found for others who come to this poem in future: Critical of the Victorian Christians of his time, he wrote that they “dwell only on the duty of self-denial but exhibit not the duty of delight.”
DeleteI learned today that social activist and writer Dorothy Day used this phrase often, including as the title of a collection of her journal entries. A short piece on this https://thelivelihoodproject.com/markings/the-duty-of-delight-1 mentions a footnote in the book: "this phrase came to serve for Dorothy as a call to mindfulness in the face of drudgery and sorrow."
This site is a call to mindfulness in the face of so much drudgery and sorrow in the world, and the bibliographical references lead me to new learning. Much gratitude on this foggy November day. I'll walk in the woods later and think of this poem as I look at fiery trees holding onto their leaves of red and gold.