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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

DIVERSITY




“He who is different from me does not impoverish me - he enriches me.
Our unity is constituted in something higher than ourselves - in Man.
For no man seeks to hear his own echo, or to find his reflection in the glass.” 
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“I know there is strength in the differences between us.
I know there is comfort, where we overlap.” 
― Ani DiFranco


“Diversity is a survival factor for the community itself.”
Daniel Quinn, Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit


                                                     It seems to me these days confusion lies
                                                     in organizing life – a deeper need
                                                     for order fights a more innate desire
                                                     for wildness, novelty, for something else.

                                                     These private conflicts interrupt my mind
                                                      as I meander through the boxed debris
                                                      and souvenirs of seventy one years.

                                                      I stack the letters, cards, receipts in neat
                                                      and separate stacks – to toss, but most to keep.
                                                     The things to go lack worth; I prize unique.

                                                     The letters, cards, and photographs I store
                                                      hold images and memories that prove
                                                      I breathed, I loved, was loved; I wrote.




Posted for the second anniversary of d’VersePoets Pub – a place of poetry where I am honored to share my work with a world of diverse poets writing diverse poems about their unique lives. Here’s to many more!

30 comments:

  1. Particularly lovely last line.

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    1. Thank you Maureen. Missed being here and reading your work. Hope I'll have some time now.

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  2. Well expressed. I also have been thinking about what to keep. I think your idea of keeping the unique is a good one. There are some treasures I have that I know no one will treasure later. I guess it is good that I won't know what is done with them. But I cannot get rid of them.

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  3. So sweet of you Mary. I've missed reading you and writing but so much had to be done before I could get back. Hopefully I'll have more time now. Still a lot to do.

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  4. first...so good to see you back writing gay...and heck..the letters and things of the memory box prove you wrote, lived, were loved but there's still so much ahead as well...so many more boxes to be filled with life breath love - writing - smiles... way to go - and i love the quotes - diversity is so very important and makes the world so much more colorful

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  5. Gay,I'll echo Maureen--the last line just made me go, "mmmmm.....wow!"

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  6. yay!!!!! good to see you gay! i am so happy right now...smiles....its hard too as you sift through the life you have lived to know what you should keep and what to let go of...and that last line sums up a good life eh? smiles.

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  7. Right on Brian! and thanks y'all! So good to be back and celebrating in this ever so special month - I do everything in JULY!!! I got born, married, inaugurated a skating competition and found a pub full of poets in July. Here's to the BIRTHDAY month!!

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  8. That was truly beautiful--and welcome back!

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  9. I identify with this on many levels, the stacking of letters in '... neat / and separate stacks ...'~ lovely, Gay.

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  10. Beautiful poem. It's a keeper, too. ;) That struggle between order and novelty a blind for that deeper struggle in deciding one's own worth.

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  11. Wonderful poem and as someone else said the ending is wonderful, Gay.

    Pamela

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  12. I left a long comment and where it went, who knows. This is a beautiful write that touched me right now as I'm going through some letting go, destroying some 30 year old journals, but not without keeping some important insights, writing them in my current journal. I like the repetition of the final two stanzas.

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  13. So good to see you, Gay... and isn't it wonderful to know your writing will live on and on. Hope you're settling into your new place comfortably.

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  14. Yes, I've been feeling much the same lately... So much that I am willing to get rid, but the personal things I cannot. It really does all come down to that last line.

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  15. Love every line. The closing one does my heart good, and should be said daily!

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  16. This is very wise. The gravity of it is nearly disguised by your conscious understatement, the use of these daily dilemmas and mature ponderings for your subject. A great windup. Very nice job.

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  17. Gay! Long time no read :) glad to see you back!!! As my loved ones, friends and I get older... I realize just how important those memories, photos and cards are... the moments are always gone before you know it... *sigh*

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  18. The whole poem has an intimate vibe, and the ending wrapped around me and made me sigh. Also made me so happy that my Grandmother wrote a small journal and I am scanning photos and putting her journal she wrote when she was young at Yellowstone together for our family (adding a few of my poems as well...)

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  19. I have a cedar chest in my basement that I call my treasure chest where all the little bits, the gifts made by children's hands, special cards, stuffed bears... the most special memories are stored under the carved lid. I think I'll tuck some of my poetry into a corner as well. You never know when your treasures are discovered and reveal more about you to your loved ones than they ever realized.

    Beautiful work.

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  20. Gay, lovely to read you again ~ The last two stanzas struck a chord in me, prizing unique, keeping memories alive & stored ~

    Take care and smiles from BC ~

    Grace

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  21. Gay--welcome back--and back with a roar. Loved the spirit of this, not to mention the beauty of it--most strong in that last line.

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  22. I dont know what to comment just that the last line makes so much of sense. We keep collecting this and that .. And that is left as our memory .. :) Beautiful

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  23. Welcome back, Gay. You are an important presence here and this poem resonates..and like others, I love, especially, that last line. Looking forward to reading more of you :) xo ~jackie~

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  24. ...this piece speaks many of us... in our journey through life we encounter many, we learn many, we keep many... still we are never full... i hope you won't settle yet...we have still many many to fill... smiles....

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  25. Wow! I've missed your words, Gay. Such a joy to be able to read new work from your pen/keyboard. I trust everything in your new home is now as you want it to be - not too organised, not too chaotic ... smiles.

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  26. Yes, the memories are alive, and interact with us, redefine themselves and us, and show us who we are, but also who we can be. Good to read your words, Gay. Hope things settle down and allow you some creative space.

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  27. GOOD WRITE!
    Proof that my life was not a total waste,
    also was in boxes galore...
    now all over the floor...
    and I have begun
    to enjoy the fun
    of snorting, sorting,
    growlig and barking.

    Always loved a life of orderly chaos--but lost somewhere the word "orderly".

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  28. Uncanny! I was just doing this yesterday. And what a bag of mixed emotions it was going through the scrap file of a life.Loved your poem. Also understand the conflicting needs of order,organization and the call of the wild,although there is no reason one cannot have both. As many have said the last stanza was very moving.I am glad you are back ...am suffering from serious poetic form deprivation.Need a rigorous workout.:)

    Cressida de Nova

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  29. "I breathed, I loved, was loved; I wrote."
    if I leave life with these things evident somewhere in the world, I will have done all that I ever wished to do.
    Beautiful!

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