ALONG COMES MARY

Some of you may not know that a bit of a lost love of mine is writing poetry. I began when I was very young, probably in kindergarten & kept up with it nearly daily til I was around 20. I really want to re-awaken this passion of mine & follow through on self publishing a book of my work, tentatively called If The Moon Bled, yes, that is one of my poems 😉 Alot of what I wrote is nothing great, I know that. But, fo me, it was an absolute great outlet & a place I felt I could completely be ME & write rubbish if I wanted….similar to journal keeping.

Since April is officially National Poetry Month(!), I am planning on sharing some of my work with you…if I don’t chicken out! I would love some input, too. In th meantime, I really enjoyed the article found here on Poets.org with 30 ways to celebrate the month. I particularly like the idea to attend a poetry reading, write a poem on the pavement or buy a book from the library. OnPoets.org, you can also search their database for poems you may already love, or enter an author’s ame & get some of their work at your fingertips.
I was able to find one of my most favorite poems on there to share with you. I hope you enjoy & tell me what some of your favorite poems/poets are! xo

Pain, by Edith Sodergran

Happiness has no songs, happiness has no thoughts, happiness has nothing.
Smash your happiness in pieces, for happiness is evil.
Happiness comes softly with the morning’s murmuring in sleeping thickets,
happiness glides away in light cloud-pictures over deep-blue deeps,
happiness is the field asleep in the glow of midday
or the sea’s infinite expanse in the bask of vertical rays,
happiness is powerless, she sleeps and breathes and knows of nothing…
Do you know pain? She is strong and great with secretly clenched fists.
Do you know pain? She smiles hopefully with eyes swollen from weeping.
Pain gives us all that we need –
she gives us the keys to the kingdom of death,
she pushes us in through the gate while we still hesitate.
Pain baptises the child and awakes with the mother
and forges all the golden wedding rings.
Pain rules over all, she smooths the thinker’s brow,
she fastens the necklace around the neck of the desired woman,
she stands in the doorway when the man leaves his true love…
What more does pain give her darlings?
I know no more.
She gives pearls and flowers, she gives songs and dreams,
she gives us a thousand kisses that are all empty,
she gives us the only kiss that is real.
She gives us our strange souls and curious likings,
she gives us all life’s highest gains:
love, solitude, and the face of death.