Tag Archive for 'etc'

Found Poetry Friday: The art of losing

jordan published on September 11, 2009 in art and zeitgeist. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .
On the 2nd and 4th Friday of every month SuperForester Jordan “rediscovers” a literary gem from the vast treasure trove of an art form that, in our technological age, has become largely under-appreciated and “lost”.

In honor of 9/11, today I’m combining my found poetry and song of the week posts.  I recommend hitting play on the song and listening to it as you read through the poem

Rumor has it Wilco’s anthem “Jesus, Etc.” was written about the aftermath of 9/11. Whether that’s true or not, it’s still a beautiful love poem.

So is “One Art”, Elizabeth Bishop’s simple yet profound tribute to letting go of loss.  It’s one of my favorite poems, one I’ve posted about here before.  One I feel worthy of revisiting again today.

                       One Art
  
  The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster, Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.  

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

– Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster

 

Have a beautiful day everybody!