This April marks the 30th iteration of National Poetry Month, which was launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996. To celebrate, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending one great poem to read every (work) day of the month. We make no claim (except when we do) that these poems are the “best” poems in any category; they are simply poems we love. The only other thing they all have in common is that they are available to read for free online, so you can enjoy them along with us. The internet is still good for some things, after all. Today we recommend:
Marie Howe’s “You Think This Happened Only Once and Long Ago”
Marie Howe is someone I turn to often: answers lurk in her phrases, even if I missed them the first time around. The answers come when you need them. First the words appear as a sentence, then as a poem, then later, doing the dishes and hearing the phrase knock around in your mind, you realize you found what you were looking for. This one’s title stays with me always, jostling for space in my mind whenever anything happens: whether it’s joy, whether it’s sorrow, whether it’s loss, betrayal. You think this only happened once, and long ago? Like a talisman, anchoring to the here and now, to both the present tense and the constant, impermeability of time, where this one moment, this one oar dipping into water in a lake, is happening now, to me, to you, but also always, but also everywhere. If you’re happy, then enjoy it. If you’re grieving, know this is the oldest story in the book. Somehow, this simple poem is about what it is to be mortal: to both love, and feel oneness with the universe, and also to understand that life is passing, the wind is moving, and we are all here in this fleeting moment, thinking we’ll live forever.
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