This fall, Dr. Rosemarie Dombrowski guided her students through the concept of using poetry to facilitate mindfulness, the practice of paying attention with intention. The course entitled “Poetic Mindfulness: Poetry as a Means to Curiosity and Compassion”, illustrated that both the reading and writing of poetry allows us to bring awareness to the need for compassion towards ourselves and others thus achieving a greater sense of peace amidst our chaotic Western lives.
Three OLLI participants have graciously shared the poems they wrote for class that were inspired by the poem, The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry. Students were given the first line of the poem, “When Despair for the World Grows in Me” as a prompt to begin their own poetic journey.
The Peace of Wild Things
By Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Poem #1
By Sally Lloyd
Sally is new to OLLI, is retired, and held careers as a social worker and a computer systems analyst. She enjoys volunteering, pottery, music, knitting, writing, and spending time with family and friends.
When despair for the world grows in me,
When I see the eyes of parents and children
From whom war has stolen the past and future,
I find respite for my aching heart
At the potter’s wheel.
My hands cradle and mold the clay,
Hands that once formed mud into pies
On the prairie.
The whirring song of the wheel
Begins to soothe and uplift me
Like the meadowlark’s call did
From amongst the bluestem & buffalo grass.
At the wheel,
My memories and the present merge
To heal my mind
For a little while.
Poem #2
By Mike Temkin
Upon retiring from a career in advertising/marketing in 2022, Mike Temkin has attended and thoroughly enjoyed a variety of courses at OLLI/ASU including a number of courses related to Poetry taught by Rosemarie Dombrowski. Mike also compiles a newsletter available on Linkedin, Facebook, Substack and Medium entitled "Thoughts And Observations" which each month provides an overview of topics examined by leaders from all walks, vocations and disciplines of life. Recent subjects have included: Meditation/Mindfulness, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Mental Health, Homelessness, Mentoring, Loyalty, Intersectionality, Leadership, Climate Change, Cybersecurity, Gun Violence/Gun Rights/Gun Safety, Critical Thinking and Sustainability.
When despair for the world grows in me, I attempt to navigate a sublime route of
perpetual escape … or at least a momentary detour.
A path, a road, a highway of relief embossed far away from the seemingly
apocalyptic abyss of opinions, recriminations, accusations from so-called
influencers, trend-spotters, cult-followers, and irrational, irresponsible charlatans
clearly responsible for moral ineptitude, bureaucratic conniving and clandestine
conspiracies. Malicious, manipulative parasites painfully provoking my anxiety,
my anguish, my pessimistic confusion and fatigue.
Can I release the anger? Will I eventually relieve the pain by dissolving the angst
into a torrent of absolution?
No priestly moment, just a reprieve of regrets, a release of doubts, a new
fortitude to move up and beyond the limits of my horizon, the finite perspective
of my aspirations and the infinite vision of my dreams.
Enchanting distractions lead to contemplation, patience, sanity. When will the
tranquility, common sense, stability, safety and security of a temperate tomorrow
finally arrive and once again embrace those I love and admire …. and even those
whom I don’t?
Poem #3: Impermanence
By Claudia N. de I.
When despair for the world grows in me
the garden I tend allows me to be
in the moment
a lizard darts
fast and shy
a hawk draws silent circles
in the sky
small green shoots wink at the sun
the stones and soil whisper their cry
this moment will not last
we know
for we are made of moments past
While you can, be here
be here
be here.
