Metamorphosis, Pt. 4

Being
moved by a Dylan Thomas quote

while the Zimmerman who borrowed
both his inspiration and his name
croons overhead in this cafe
fueled by community rather than corporation.

A reminder that "You can find
beautiful instruments anywhere in the world."

Yes, beautiful conversations with beautiful friends
that embolden my resolve
to embrace mystery and revel in complexity.
Translating Baudelaire direct,
marveling at de Tocqueville,

Dancing away the despair.
Daring to hold both the light and the dark
within my weary soul.
Turn the corner and find beauty again.

mid-term musings

In between celebrating birthdays (there are 5 birthdays in my family in just 11 days--whew!), I'm supposed to be studying for mid-terms and just wanted to process some of my thoughts.


"What is poetry? What is its aim? On the distinction between the Good and the Beautiful; on the Beauty of Evil; that rhythm and rhyme answer the immortal need in man for monotony, symmetry, and surprise; on adapting style to subject; on the vanity and danger of inspiration, etc..." - Charles Baudelaire




"The poet is occupied with frontiers of consciousness beyond which words fail, though meaning still exists." - T.S. Eliot




"A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.


I say it just
Begins to live
That day."
- Emily Dickenson




"You can gorge yourself on Austen and not get fat. She’s both a comic and a romantic, a nearly impossible combination." - Margaret Kaufman