Rating: 5 out of 5

The first of the “ten poems to” books I’ve read. I found it on the shelf at my library and decided I’d give it a go. I’m a bit intimidated by poetry. In a similar way to how I’m intimidated by cryptic crosswords. A fear of “Am I smart enough?” I guess. Anyway, that’s about me not the book, but gives context. I enjoyed this poem and essay approach. Illustrating points by introducing other poems. Describing interpretations. As other reviews have said it’s unlikely that all ten poems will resonate but I certainly found two or three. For my own notes they were:
- Self-portrait by David Whyte
- Lake and Maple by Jane Hirshfield
- So much happiness by Naomi Shibab Nye

Highlighted passages:

From Haiku poem by the Chinese poet Do Hyundai Choe:

Stillness is what creates love
Movement is what creates life
To be still
And still moving -
That is everything

Yet the whole point is not in the end a matter of succeeding or failing. It is a matter of putting one’s head on the chopping board of life, and taking what comes. Of being willing to love even though love is bound to defeat us finally, if not through loss, if not through separation, the certainty in death

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back…
Whatever you do, or dream you ca do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it
Begin it now - W.H. Murray

From “Have you ever tried to enter the long black branches” by Mary Oliver

Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life

For how long will you continue to listen to those dark shouters, caution and prudence?

Everything passes. Is it sad? Is it a relief? Sometimes one, sometimes the other, but it is what it is, always, and the spectrum of feelings it generates also passes in its turn

Authenticity and daily life are not always an easy match

Loss, death, defeat are an intrinsic part of any human journey

It is not possible fully to embrace the gift of love without also accepting the inevitability of loss

Originally posted to my Goodreads account