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My most recent single release - "My True North" - is now available on Bandcamp. Open my profile and click on "audio clip".

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Poetry in the Soul

Maintaining momentum on my blog has been easier during spells when comments from readers have been consistent. Because the inspiration I derive from you often morphs into ideas for future posts - like today's - I cannot say thank you frequently enough to those of you who take the time to comment, here or offline.

What is perhaps most inspiring to me is the poetry in some of your comments. Acting as the conduit for your skill at expressing ideas thrills me. Recently, one loyal reader said he "...probably wouldn't earn that merit badge..." in response to a post quoting Thomas Paine about facing adversity with a smile. Fantastic!

Not long before that, one of my most frequent commenters described an adolescent character in a novel I'd cited - one this reader had also read - as being mired in "...hormonal soup..." Come on, try coming up with a more apt metaphor for what we all experience in our teens than those two words.

And here's a hidden treasure I recently uncovered when a reader directed me back to a post published in late 2013. This comment referred to some of the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy. In it, the commenter described seeing things that revealed "...the hidden beauty of nature embedded in its fury..." That one took my breath away.

I'm reasonably sure none of the comments cited above - or the many others like this I've received over the last eleven + years - were planned. Therein lies the magic. In my experience, most people have poetry in their souls. Thank you for sharing some of yours with me - and any of my readers - since 2011. I challenge all of you to listen carefully to the words of others and see how much poetry emerges if you are paying attention. The next time you hear some, share it with me here.      

2 comments:

  1. Good afternoon, Pat. Hope you are all doing well. Having only been a contributor (can I say that?) for a very short time, I don't believe I've yet to offer anything that would be considered to be poetry or poetic. However, I will offer my thanks to you. As I am sure I have said previously ( I do have a tendency of repeating myself) I enjoy reading your posts. There are times when I have not been able to comment in as timely a manner as I would like, but that does result in 2-3 comments in a given day. So there's that. And this will probably be another of those days. Adding to all of this, I am in full agreement when you say 'listening to the words of others'. I enjoy reading comments from other followers of your blog. And based on those I can see the reason for todays post. And who knows .. I may stumble on something that will be more poetic than intended.
    Be well ...
    'Anonymous' Bob
    (not sure why its only allowing me to post this way, but I am getting used to the new nickname - lol)

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    1. Anonymous Bob (I'm getting used to your new moniker as well); Thanks for another hat trick day - i.e. three comments. Though you are indeed a "newer" contributor you have made up for lost time in both the number of comments you make and how expansive many of those comments are. I'm really pleased here to know you've "...enjoyed reading the comments of others..." And, I'm confident your own poetry will surface sooner vs. later. In my experience, most people have it in them, especially thoughtful and kind people, like yourself.

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