tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post6135376361498791727..comments2024-02-17T08:14:14.308-06:00Comments on imaginary garden with real toads: Personal Challenge - Susan Chast and 'Yawp'Sherry Blue Skyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01926508656571639801noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-28954096896829498742012-09-22T12:54:07.952-05:002012-09-22T12:54:07.952-05:00I love the sense of equality that you portray in y...I love the sense of equality that you portray in your closing lines. This is such a thoughtful post...so much to care deeply about. Great personal challenge Kerry and Susan!! Hannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10124956200834969600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-11942409316929862322012-09-20T19:34:05.984-05:002012-09-20T19:34:05.984-05:00Whitman is one of my favorite poets. Whitman is one of my favorite poets. Fireblossomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07040525704916368792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-24103751991439126952012-09-20T19:23:46.001-05:002012-09-20T19:23:46.001-05:00A profound response to the challenge, and it's...A profound response to the challenge, and it's obvious you feel deeply connected with Whitman, Susan. Thanks for giving us so many of his poems to reread, and for yours.hedgewitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13090696134322515899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-47857516412842189782012-09-18T22:59:40.728-05:002012-09-18T22:59:40.728-05:00Susan,
So many threaded thoughts you have captured...Susan,<br />So many threaded thoughts you have captured and cascaded! It is a powerful message and one that sings I mean yawps! I love how you united all of us~ You gave us something to Yawp about :D Beautifully Done~Ellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06070952447277684613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-51234702639639924222012-09-18T22:44:52.981-05:002012-09-18T22:44:52.981-05:00My goodness, you really did take this challenge to...My goodness, you really did take this challenge to heart (and soul) and the results are very rich indeed. I doubt I could keep my focus long enough to write such a long piece as "Yawp." It goes many places. Nice workPeggyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10811244438243200435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-69822844863052465592012-09-18T21:36:49.593-05:002012-09-18T21:36:49.593-05:00Susan- You have gone above and beyond here with so...Susan- You have gone above and beyond here with some very powerful statements and questionings, my friend. I can relate to so much, but especially the religion. God is God. Religion is not God. That's what I believe.Laurie Kolphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07494759781947881343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-70783758657885269662012-09-18T20:48:00.718-05:002012-09-18T20:48:00.718-05:00Awesome indeed, Susan. Kerry certainly knew how to...Awesome indeed, Susan. Kerry certainly knew how to draw a response from you by choosing Whitman, and you took Whitman to a whole 'nother level, one your very own but which real toads can understand.<br />I love your work, and the response it has drawn from our circle of poets and itinerant versifiers (counting myself in the latter category).<br />KKay L. Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-43236403789129335162012-09-18T16:21:31.538-05:002012-09-18T16:21:31.538-05:00What a challenge Kerry, I am reading the linked qu...What a challenge Kerry, I am reading the linked quotes, indeed food for thought ~ <br /><br />Susan, I like the way you responded to Whitman's writings ~ I can imagine you reading this with a lot of fervor and energy, like born teacher, yet eager student ~<br /><br />Thanks for sharing your lovely words ~ Scarlethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03330793338813508704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-81447445664753050802012-09-18T16:14:14.720-05:002012-09-18T16:14:14.720-05:00Yes, Susan... I just read that one about an hour a...Yes, Susan... I just read that one about an hour ago and I was struck by it! Wow. In as much as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me... It sent CHILLS through me. When I visited Antietam National Battleground, I purchased a book "Now the Drum of War" about Walt Whitman. I dug it up and am reading it now. <br />Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007201357693227614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-44630719776877947882012-09-18T15:52:25.566-05:002012-09-18T15:52:25.566-05:00http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/what-ne...http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/what-need.html<br /><br />My rushed little effort.Rinkly Rimeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07890344869337115307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-54087603746997341652012-09-18T15:49:30.996-05:002012-09-18T15:49:30.996-05:00Everyone: Thank you! I truly hesitated to post my...Everyone: Thank you! I truly hesitated to post my "Yawp" knowing the shorter poem was much more polished. Posting it felt like jumping off a high dive and, yet, here on "landing" I find the water warm and deep, and a readership who knows about laying out the soul. You are the best! Wow.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05723639294340760325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-68064423980523075862012-09-18T15:44:09.030-05:002012-09-18T15:44:09.030-05:00I enjoyed this, Susan!! Lots of depth here.I enjoyed this, Susan!! Lots of depth here.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07366010389846904663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-24452635042448853752012-09-18T15:43:45.231-05:002012-09-18T15:43:45.231-05:00Kerry: I am grateful that we challenge each other,...Kerry: I am grateful that we challenge each other, that raw as my yawp is--it is a yawp! Your comment is generous and encouraging. And yeah, if it has a spider guide in it, I go to it like a magnet!Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05723639294340760325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-47534627267748422552012-09-18T15:20:40.239-05:002012-09-18T15:20:40.239-05:00Oh yes. Whitman may have been the only poet who s...Oh yes. Whitman may have been the only poet who served in the Civil War, as a nurse, I believe.I'll give you that one and raise you this one: <br /><br /><br />"A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Grey and Dim"<br /><br /><br /><br /> A SIGHT in camp in the daybreak gray and dim,<br /> As from my tent I emerge so early sleepless,<br /> As slow I walk in the cool fresh air the path near by the hospital<br /> tent,<br /> Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there untended<br /> lying,<br /> Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woolen blanket,<br /> Gray and heavy blanket, folding, covering all.<br /><br /> Curious I halt and silent stand,<br /> Then with light fingers I from the face of the nearest the first<br /> just lift the blanket;<br /> Who are you elderly man so gaunt and grim, with well-gray'd hair,<br /> and flesh all sunken about the eyes?<br /> Who are you my dear comrade?<br /> Then to the second I step- and who are you my child and darling?<br /> Who are you sweet boy with cheeks yet blooming?<br /> Then to the third- a face nor child nor old, very calm, as of<br /> beautiful yellow-white ivory;<br /> Young man I think I know you- I think this face is the face of the<br /> Christ himself,<br /> Dead and divine and brother of all, and here again he lies.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05723639294340760325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-61789586002000242582012-09-18T14:32:45.373-05:002012-09-18T14:32:45.373-05:00Thanks, Susie, for the email. I want to clarify.....Thanks, Susie, for the email. I want to clarify... that I DO like your poem very much despite it being a bit hard for me to read in places. Your artistic approach to voicing what you feel (and so many others) is done wonderfully! I think there are many great teachers and priests who have given of themselves and in the way you "wish" for. Of course, there are those who have caused much damage... <br /><br />I read your poem with a grieving and sad heart BECAUSE I understand and in some way do agree with you. I also think nature is as close as we can possibly get to God in this world (and that is coming from a Catholic who believes in the "presence" of the consecrated eucharist!) I wouldn't want read poems and books that only conform to what I believe in. And sometimes, I have listened and pondered a work and changed my heart/mind. <br /><br />I have been reading Walt Whitman this afternoon and have been quite taken with his free verse poetry during the Civil War! Wow. A poem I am very fond of and plan on reading every day this week (so I can soak it in) is "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" . Have you read that one? Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007201357693227614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-92211370223154103702012-09-18T12:56:51.424-05:002012-09-18T12:56:51.424-05:00Oops! Sorry susan, getting my blogger wires crosse...Oops! Sorry susan, getting my blogger wires crossed~horses is margaret (this comes from blogging on a phone while driving thru cincy~yeah, i know. Bad rick!)<br />I love what you say about priests. So true. Is it any wonder things are as they are. Too many cooks in the kitchen, and very few good ones.<br />And me too~not to<br />Cripes, i better drive!<br />RickFar Beyond The Ridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05854741339081490896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-75366078057775883112012-09-18T12:07:51.925-05:002012-09-18T12:07:51.925-05:00Wow! I've been reading "just horses"...Wow! I've been reading "just horses" for a long while, and didn't even know you were part of gardens n toads!<br />I started smilin when i reached the angry stream, and still do.<br />Me to:)<br />RickFar Beyond The Ridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05854741339081490896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-26648342429656642352012-09-18T11:40:51.604-05:002012-09-18T11:40:51.604-05:00Laying ones soul on the line like you did in Yawp ...Laying ones soul on the line like you did in Yawp is a hard thing to do and you did an unbelievable job of threading the personal needle and creating a great poem. And the first one was truly amazing...I love Whitmans, but yours I think I like equally as much. Way to raise that bar for the rest of us...holy cow. Great job.Herotomosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11486093602914824276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-18821953082647792162012-09-18T11:33:33.557-05:002012-09-18T11:33:33.557-05:00Oh, WOW. What a rich wealth of inner wisdom to hap...Oh, WOW. What a rich wealth of inner wisdom to happen upon this morning. Kerry, fantastic challenge and Susan, no one could have met it more fully. I am in awe, like Susie, as this is a profound piece of writing, containing so much richness. So much to think about, so much to turn around in one's mind. O my Soul is absolutely magnificent. And I, too, preferred your poem to Whitman's. Deep ponderings, expressed so well. Wow.Sherry Blue Skyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10769154286598233146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-11074086265722197592012-09-18T10:33:16.001-05:002012-09-18T10:33:16.001-05:00Susan, your work here leaves me in awe. "The ...Susan, your work here leaves me in awe. "The trouble with priests" really resonates with me. You have taken what I have felt/am feeling and gave it a voice. <br />Kerry, thank you for challenging Susan with Walt Whitman. Susie Clevengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09239990133754328967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-19276232567373912872012-09-18T10:05:13.926-05:002012-09-18T10:05:13.926-05:00I was much taken with O My Soul and may even prefe...I was much taken with O My Soul and may even prefer it to Whitman's. Your second poem was a bit hard for me to read as it seems you lump all priests together. And that there is no right or wrong, that everyone's truths are equal (or that they can be assured in their own understanding of it). I think that is part of our problem, that everyone has become their own "Pope" so to speak. But that is just me, and your poem bares your soul, your thoughts, in a honest and splendid way. It makes one think, and that is always a good thing.<br /><br />This is an excellent challenge and response. I have Walt On my bookshelf (my son thought I would like him ) and I am going to start reading it tonight. Thank you and Kerrry both. Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007201357693227614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542041444980449672.post-62510992661467340092012-09-18T08:55:18.707-05:002012-09-18T08:55:18.707-05:00This is such a rich post, Susan, one full of wisdo...This is such a rich post, Susan, one full of wisdom and ideas to ponder deeply. I love your response to Whitman's spider spinning its web: that you say you have a spirit more like an angry young stream...<br /><br />And your 'Yawp' is deeply self-analyzing, as well as a thought-provoking criticism of the state of the world as we know it. Not even the threat of extinction will stop the destructive side of man's nature, and you're not afraid to say it. Preach, sister! Kerry O'Connorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00720862912375945249noreply@blogger.com