DAY 81 (July 30th, 2017)

A Day Like Any Other

Such insignificance: a glance
at your record on the doctor’s desk
or a letter not meant for you.

How could you have known? It’s not true
that your life passes before you
in rapid motion, but your watch
suddenly ticks like an amplified heart,
the hands freezing against a white
that is a judgment.
Otherwise nothing.

The face in the mirror is still yours.

Two men pass on the sidewalk
and do not stare at your window.

Your room is silent, the plants
locked inside their mysterious lives
as always.
The queen-of-the-night
refuses to bloom, does not accept
your definition.
It makes no sense,
your scanning the street for a traffic snarl,
a new crack in the pavement,
a flag at half-mast — signs
of some disturbance in the world
because your friend, the morning sun,
has turned its dark side toward you.

DAY 82 (July 31st, 2017)

Night Song

Among rocks, I am the loose one,
among arrows, I am the heart,
among daughters, I am the recluse,
among sons, the one who dies young.

Among answers, I am the question,
between lovers, I am the sword,
among scars, I am the fresh wound,
among confetti, the black flag.

Among shoes, I am the onw with the pebble,
among days, the one that never comes,
among the bones you find on the beach
the one that sings was mine.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

FREEDOM

Find freedom in the face
of one’s own inconsequence
and no longer must you feed
this ravenous illusion
built brick by brick
with pride as trowel
and ignorance as mortar.

And for what?
This edifice you so
lovingly constructed
was built upon a cliff
eroded and beaten by storms so fierce
as to sink whole Persian fleets.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

DAY 79 (July 28th, 2017)

The City

You said: “I’ll go to another country, go to another shore,
find another city better than this one.
Whatever I try to do is fated to turn out wrong
and my heart lies buried as though it were something dead.
How long can I let my mind moulder in this place?
Wherever I turn, wherever I happen to look,
I see the black ruins of my life, here,
where I’ve spent so many years, wasted them, destroyed them totally.”

You won’t find a new country, won’t find another shore.
This city will always pursue you. You will walk
the same streets, grow old in the same neighborhoods,
will turn gray in these same houses.
You will always end up in this city. Don’t hope for things elsewhere:
there is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you’ve wasted your life here, in this small corner,
you’ve destroyed it everywhere else in the world.

DAY 80 (July 29th, 2017)

City Trees

The trees along this city street,
Save for the traffic and the trains,
Would make a sound as thin and sweet
As trees in country lanes.

And people standing in their shade
Out of a shower, undoubtedly
Would hear such music as is made
Upon a country tree.

Oh, little leaves that are so dumb
Against the shrieking city air,
I watch you when the wind has come,—
I know what sound is there.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

TEARDROP

Roofs like wave crests
over a peopled sea
ebb and flow
through inexorable generations.

And what am I but a teardrop
on a wide-arcing train?—
A minim lost in ocean lights.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

DAY 77 (July 26th, 2017)

A Cloud Withdrew From The Sky

A Cloud withdrew from the Sky
Superior Glory be
But that Cloud and its Auxiliaries
Are forever lost to me

Had I but further scanned
Had I secured the Glow
In an Hermetic Memory
It had availed me now.

Never to pass the Angel
With a glance and a Bow
Till I am firm in Heaven
Is my intention now.

DAY 78 (July 27th, 2017)

Yesterday is History

Yesterday is History,
‘Tis so far away —
Yesterday is Poetry —
‘Tis Philosophy —

Yesterday is mystery —
Where it is Today
While we shrewdly speculate
Flutter both away

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

LITTLE GAMES

All the world’s little games
are variations on the same
tired motif. Why tarry?

God’s gift to you is today.
Would you squander such largesse?

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

DAY 75 (July 24th, 2017)

A poor — torn heart — a tattered heart

A poor — torn heart — a tattered heart
That sat it down to rest
Nor noticed that the Ebbing Day
Flowed silver to the West
Nor noticed Night did soft descend
Nor Constellation burn
Intent upon the vision
Of latitudes unknown

The angels — happening that way
This dusty heart espied
Tenderly took it up from toil
And carried it to God
There — sandals for the Barefoot
There — gathered from the gales
Do the blue havens by the hand
Lead the wandering Sails

DAY 74 (July 25th, 2017)

Woods

I part the out thrusting branches
and come in beneath
the blessed and the blessing trees.

Though I am silent
there is singing around me.

Though I am dark
there is vision around me.

Though I am heavy
there is flight around me.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

EYES

If you do not have eyes, how
will you see without them?

and love may light a lamp to
illuminate your blindness.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

DAY 73 (July 22nd, 2017)

The Choice

The intellect of man is forced to choose
perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
When all that story’s finished, what’s the news?
In luck or out the toil has left its mark:
That old perplexity an empty purse,
Or the day’s vanity, the night’s remorse.

DAY 74 (July 23rd, 2017)

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

FACES

Look upon the young faces,
and see a springtide that lasts forever.
Look upon the old faces,
and see the dead on graves’ precipice.

Strive to be,
not by straining,
but as a steadfast farmer gathers strawberries.
The work is not strenuous,
although the sun may be, at times, too hot,
and your basket too full
or empty.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

DAY 71 (July 20th, 2017)

The Prayer of Quiet

The soul, then, being thus inwardly recollected in
God or before God, now and then becomes so
sweetly attentive to the goodness of her well-beloved,
that her attention seems not to her to be attention, so
purely and delicately is it exercised; as it happens
to certain rivers, which glide so calmly and smoothly that
beholders, and such as float upon them, seem neither to
see nor feel any motion, because the waters are not
seen to ripple or flow at all.

DAY 72 (July 21st, 2017)

Praying

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

THE QUIET HOUR

This is the quiet hour,
when the moon casts
all that’s seemingly manifest,
into doubt and shadows.

Who. Who.
The great horned owl is not asking you a question,
but is asking you to question.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

Both of the poems above came from Roger Housden’s for lovers of god everywhere, which you can purchase on Amazon.

DAY 69 (July 18th, 2017)

You are the mystery (excerpt)

    you are the mystery that
is placed upon the Lord’s table.
You receive the mystery that is
yourself.
To that which you are,
you will respond,
‘Amen.’

DAY 70 (July 19th, 2017)

Drink My Wine (Logion 108, The Gospel of Thomas)

Jesus said,

Drink my wine
you will become me
I will become you
and all that is hidden
you will see
with your own eyes.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

DO NOT SORROW

Do not sorrow
for the loss of this world and its lessons.

Even now, they wait patiently at the table—
the wine poured in silver goblets.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

Both of the poems above came from Roger Housden’s for lovers of god everywhere, which you can purchase on Amazon.

DAY 67 (July 16th, 2017)

The Coming of Wisdom with Time

Though leaves are many, the root is one;
Through all the lying days of my youth
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun;
Now I may wither into the truth.

DAY 68 (July 17th, 2017)

I Look into my Glass

I look into my glass,
And view my wasting skin,
And say, ‘Would God it came to pass
My heart had shrunk as thin!’

For then I, undistrest
By hearts grown cold to me,
Could lonely wait my endless rest
With equanimity.

But Time, to make me grieve,
Part steals, lets part abide;
And shakes this fragile frame at eve
With throbbings of noontide.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN TO A MAN

How does this happen to a man—
that he is too crippled to walk?
or that his encrusted mind crumbles into
fractured gibberish?

How easy it is to love
with the loss of one’s body.
How fragile it is—like an eggshell.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

DAY 65 (July 14th, 2017)

Under the Harvest Moon

Under the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.

Under the summer roses
When the flagrant crimson
Lurks in the dusk
Of the wild red leaves,
Love, with little hands,
Comes and touches you
With a thousand memories,
And asks you
Beautiful, unanswerable questions.

DAY 66 (July 15th, 2017)

To see the Summer Sky

To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie—
True Poems flee—

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

SUMMER DAYS

Cherish the long, warm days
when you can walk unencumbered in the open air
and listen to little girls
play in the fountain where Aphrodite was born.

Impossible, impassable winter looms
when the water freezes
and the women stay home.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

DAY 63 (July 12th, 2017)

After Long Silence

Speech after long silence; it is right,
All other lovers being estranged or dead,
Unfriendly lamplight hid under its shade,
The curtains drawn upon unfriendly night,
That we descant and yet again descant
Upon the supreme theme of Art and Song:
Bodily decrepitude is wisdom; young
We loved each other and were ignorant.

DAY 64 (July 13th, 2017)

Art

In placid hours well-pleased we dream
Of many a brave unbodied scheme.
But form to lend, pulsed life create,
What unlike things must meet and mate:
A flame to melt—a wind to freeze;
Sad patience—joyous energies;
Humility—yet pride and scorn;
Instinct and study; love and hate;
Audacity—reverence. These must mate,
And fuse with Jacob’s mystic heart,
To wrestle with the angel—Art.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

ART

The purpose of art is not the works
but the work–
the unfolding of the artist’s spirit.

The works themselves may be guideposts
for fellow journeymen.

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!