What would I do without the poets that others have introduced me to?
I really can't say...don't know if I would have discovered them on my own, or if my life would just be wanting.
I can't count the number of poets that Marion has "found" for me, but they include Rilke, Lucille Clifton, David Whyte and the incomparable Kim Addonizio. I love that Kim and Marion and I are exactly the same age. I think of her as a contemporary poet. That must mean Marion and I are contemporary, too. Heaven knows, we're not old.
From Pam came someone who means a lot to me, Sharon Olds. When I bought my first book from Sharon, I created a habit that has stayed with me. I open a poetry book to a page, any page. Invariably, the poem that is there is my favorite in the collection. It never fails.
I got a poetry book from Kelly for my birthday. Kelly introduced me to the poet Linda Pastan, and gave me her "Carnival Evening". Sure enough, on my very first "opening", I found the poem I love best -- let me share it with you now.
Excursion
I am a tourist
in my own life,
gazing at the exotic shapes
of flowers
as if someone else
had planted them;
barred
from the half-lit rooms
of children
by an invisible
velvet rope.
The dresses in my closet
are costumes
for a different woman,
though I hide myself
in their silky textures.
The man asleep
in my bed
knows me best
in the dark.
~Linda Pastan
I'm not going to draw you the parallels, but suffice it to say, the moment I read it, it was as if I wrote it... so many similar thoughts. A wonderful gift on a great birthday. (Oh, and the poem encompasses my favorite word in all of poetry, one I use over and over in my own poems... "velvet").
That's Pastan, below.
