Poet Jane Hirshfield said "... the feeling I have about poem-writing (is) that it is always an exploration, of discovering something I didn't already know. Who I am shifts from moment to moment, year to year. What I can perceive does as well. A new poem peers into mystery, into whatever lies just beyond the edge of knowable ground."
I bring a different poem to the writing classes each week, not only to inspire but to introduce new poets to the group members.
Jasmine by Kyongjoo Hong Ryou
Saturday evening grows darker as the teapot whistles. I get a mug, humming, and breathe the ancient scent, faintly familiar. Every summer we gathered the young jasmine leaves, while I sang songs that I learned in school. On sunny days, she spread the leaves out in the back yard where I sat and dreamt the scent of long winter nights beside the hot stove. Immense warmth calms my throat as I hear what’s not there anymore. Mama’s dead: someone else is picking the leaves, drinking my tea in nights of winter. ~ translated by May Jayyusi and Naomi Shihab Nye, from
This Same Sky, A Collection of Poems from around the World,
selected by Naomi Shihab Nye