on being pathetic (moved from library to journal)
04/19/2005 01:41 p.m.
The name of this website puts off some folks. "It is too negative," they say. "No one wants to be pathetic," Of course not. Nobody WANTS to be hapless, miserable, poor, or silly, but all of us are each of those at one time or another, aren't we? Some may wonder, "Yes, but why write about it, why celebrate it, why PUBLISH it?" My answer is that my favorite poetry comes to me when I can be in the now. When I am now joyful, fulfilled, successful, or peaceful, I enjoy it. And sometimes my soul, full of gratitude, overflows onto the page. That may be pathetic in Webster's definition: capable of feeling. That is magnificent. But most often I do not need to write poetry at those times. When I need to write is when I AM miserable, when I DO "elicit contempt and pity" from myself or others. When I spill my darkness onto these pages and they appear lighted on my monitor, it makes my pathetic, hurting, state seem more bearable. It makes being human more acceptable. And when those same words light others' monitors, it shows me and them that I belong… to the species, to the community. It removes me from the hell of my isolated, pitiable state if only for a few moments. And sometimes that is all it takes to help me, in my humanity, reach the divine. Richard Rohr says that good poetry only works if the "words are an honest description of experience. Poetry either names the moment truthfully, and somehow fully, or it will not stand the test of time or the judgment of readers." I have often said that writing and reading poetry is a spiritual experience for me. And in the hectic, stressful world that I and most others live in, those moments that awaken the spirit are precious and priceless. They are for me, as Rohr says, a "contemplative stance that teach silence, waiting, non-judgment of the moment, living in the now, egolessness, 'suffering the event,' getting out of myself, moving beyond words to find … inner experience" and Sonship. One last quote from Richard Rohr and his article "Poetry and Prayer." He says of contemplation and poetry, "They are two different ways of describing how the always secret and eternal wisdom can become flesh in this space and time. The universal CAN become particular. It is the heart of the Christian mystery." It is not in my glorious times, but in my brokenness and those pathetic moments that I reach for a higher power. In that sense, I guess I could say that this website is like a sacrament for me, it is a door to the sacred. Finally, Webster says of "pathetic," having the capacity to move one to... compassion..." What I read here on this website often does that. For the compassion and the moments of spirit I experience here, I am eternally grateful.
I am currently Thoughtfull
I am listening to my cat Chaser's meow