Subtraction + join me for a poetry reading with One Art

Dear friends, this poem came yesterday when a delightful young woman and I met for our regular writing circle. Our theme was 'listening,' and we gasped in delight (pun intended) as we read and discussed Mary Oliver's Mindful. In this poem, the Patron Saint of Presence, Mary Oliver, advises us to be delighted by the world, over and over, to listen keenly, and to lose ourselves in her softness.

Mary's words became the doorway in, and the doorway became this poem.

Subtraction

with a line from Mary Oliver

Lose yourself inside this soft world,
inside this moist earth, water-soaked from two days of rain.
Lose yourself inside the velvet ears of your dog,
how she squeezes herself into liquid warmth,
cradles her body between two bodies, spooned on each side.
Lose yourself inside the tears that fall from beauty or from pain –
how they wet your insides, lubricate your soul.
Lose yourself inside the soft chambers of your heart,
their miraculous pumping, the rhythmic beating
that reminds you, “I'm here and I'm alive.”
Lose yourself inside your soft hopes for the future,
what is wet with promise, not yet carved into form.
Lose yourself inside the soft love others have for you,
especially when it doesn't feel soft –
when you have to look again to see the glint of delight.
Lose yourself inside your soft worries
for what you fear has not yet come to pass.
Lose yourself inside surprise,
how what feels stuck may find a way through.
Lose yourself inside beauty when you're shocked by ugliness –
especially what you see as ugly within yourself.
Lose yourself inside perseverance and lose yourself inside failure.
Lose yourself inside sorrow as well as joy.
Lose yourself inside everything the world holds for you.
Lose yourself and marvel at what you find.

Poetry Reading with One Art

Friends, I’m over the moon to spend time with fellow writers Ellen Rowland and Phyllis Cole-Dai and our host, editor and founder of One Art, Mark Danowsky, for a poetry reading on Sunday, May 3rd.

If you feel moved to come, I’d love to have you join me! The reading is from 1-2:30 pm Central time.

It’s free, but you need to register here. There will be time for reading as well as questions. 

Here’s a bit more about Ellen and Phyllis, my co-poets:

Phyllis Cole-Dai resides in Maryland. She’s the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including the popular Poetry of Presence volumes of mindfulness poems. She invites you to hop aboard The Raft, her online community.

Ellen Rowland is a writer and editor who leads small, generative poetry workshops on craft and form. She is the author of two collections of haiku: Light, Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, and most recently The Echo of Silence/L’écho du Silence, a bi-lingual book of haiku and tanka. Her full-length poetry collection, No Small Thing, was published by Fernwood Press in 2023. You can find her writing in ONE ART, Sheila-Na-Gig, Braided Way, Humana Obscura, and several anthologies, including “The Path to Kindness” and “The Wonder of Small Things” edited by James Crews. Her chapbook of after poems, In Search of Lost Birds is forthcoming from Kelsay Books. She lives off the grid with her family on a small farm in Greece. Connect with her on Instagram , Facebook and Substack.

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With a grateful heart, Karly