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Rose Wrede's avatar

Poetry IS. Several friends and I discovered Mary Oliver during CoVID. One of her last anthologies is a collection her favorites called Devotions. A good place to start getting to know her. Plus some very fine young tube recordings of her voice and ideas. She is incredible. Rose 🌹

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Meera Lee Patel's avatar

Thanks, Rose -- I love Mary Oliver and read her often. I'll check out the recordings of her voice and ideas -- both sound exactly like what I need.

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Kaus's avatar

You are like that friend whose presence is enough to feel the warmth of hot chocolate on a rainy day.

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Meera Lee Patel's avatar

Kaus...what a sweet and very kind message to receive. Thank you. <3

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Meghan Kelley's avatar

In terms of poetry audiobooks, two that I love (and are read by the poets that wrote them) are Girls That Never Die by Safia Elhillo and The Nightfields by Joanna Klink. If you're looking for a longer work that moves across more of a poet's trajectory, I am currently listening to Dionne Brand's Nomenclature: New and Collected Poems--it spans almost 40 years of her work, so it's about 13 hours long. If you only listen to part of it, I recommend "Nomenclature for the Time Being," which is at the beginning of the book and is a long poem (about an hour), but it's brilliantly, shatteringly good.

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Meera Lee Patel's avatar

Thanks so much for these recommendations, Meghan! I'm so incredibly excited to listen to all three of these. Also, I cannot IMAGINE writing a poem that takes longer than an hour to read. Wow. <3

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Terry J Walker's avatar

It is always refreshing to read your posts. I love Lucielle Clifton's work and found this little snippet of a poem many years ago and put it in a painting. I live on an island in a forest and am always in the ocean as much as possible so I know just what she means.

"i keep hearing

tree talk

water words

and i keep knowing

what they mean"

Lucielle Clifton

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Meera Lee Patel's avatar

Thanks for sharing this snippet, Terry -- I loved it and immediately felt recognition -- not of knowing what she means, because I often feel very distanced from the earth -- but of reading the words of someone who recognizes herself. I LOVE that you are on an island in a forest and in the ocean as much as possible. If you wrote about your life, I'd read it. <3

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Terry J Walker's avatar

Hi Meera, I recently started my substack 52 Weeks of art, inspiration and wellbeing. I would love for you to check it out. Thanks!

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Terry J Walker's avatar

Thank you. I am starting my substack called 52 weeks. It will start Jan 1, 2025. It is a weekly post with my art, inspiration and ideas for well-being. It is based on things I've discovered that make my life richer, more balanced (I love balance!) and more loving and kind. I will reach out when I start and if you are interested I would love for you to read it. : o )

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