Lyricality Blog
Painted Cave: a “Light” poem by Micki Blenkush
In this time of uncertainty, poets, artists, and other creative types have much to teach us. This poem hints that, when desire to understand what is beyond our knowing, making art (drawing, painting, sculpture, music, dance, poetry, basketry, weaving, crafting, or any kind of creative “making”) is a healthy response. When we find ourselves in unfamiliar situations, taking an open, creative approach allows us a sidelong glimpse at patterns we might, due to a primitive fear of the unknown, be incapable of observing and seeing with a rational-logical mindset.
In My Darkest Hour: a “Light” poem by Mary Willette Hughes
Welcome to Sunday Morning Lyricality, currently featuring "Light" poems by central Minnesota writers. Poets are able to manipulate all of human experience, even the pain of grief, into art, each in their idiosyncratic way. This poem by Mary Willette Hughes reminds us that when we don’t know where to turn, there is prayer, and there are poems....
Simple Attendance by Charles Wm. Preble: on the art and joy of simple gratitude (or how to stay sane during a quarantine)
Slowly and thoughtfully reading Simple Attendance by Charles Wm. Preble,
I’ve discovered that contemplating these poems is like folding down the hurricane shutters and making myself cozy. Yes, the pandemic-storm is raging, but these poems muffle the howl and minimize breakage.
What was the Darkest Night? a “Light” poem by Susan Sink
Welcome to Sunday Morning Lyricality, featuring a weekly song or poem by a Minnesota writer. In times of despair, when we can’t see where we are going, what will comfort and sustain us? We might, Susan Sink seems to suggest in this poem, notice and marvel at what is. Even “in a month of nightmares,” we may come to recognize, and then let go...
Unvanquished: a “Light” poem by Delores Dufner
Welcome to Light from Lyricality, featuring poems by Minnesota writers to inspire hope and courage. UnvanquishedDelores Dufner When spring returns I learn once morehow deep the darkness dwelling in me,feel once more how faint the hopethat green will grow again--how faint that hope in me. Winter numb, I cringe to touchmy skin worn thin by...
Being the Question by Tracy Rittmueller
Welcome to Sunday Morning Lyricality, featuring a weekly song or poem by a Minnesota writer. Yesterday the On Being Project's weekly newsletter came with the subject, "A care package for uncertain times." The Project's editor, Kristin Lin, reminded me how important it is to "make space for rest and respite in the face of overwhelming...
A New Design: Mary Willette Hughes on Poetry as a Path to Transformation
On a bright morning in early December, 2019, I visited with Mary Willette Hughes at her Waite Park home. We had come together to talk poetry. The living room was pleasantly warm and bright, the house was filled with rainbows cast by the prisms hanging in every window, and my body and soul were flooded with calm. I had crossed a threshold from the busy, demanding world into a place of peace.
2548 by Cassidy Swanson
Welcome to Sunday Morning Lyricality, featuring a weekly song or poem by a Minnesota writer. This deceptively simple poem addresses the contradictory feeling of despair mingled with hope. Although the poet is speaking of love, loss, and recovery from grief, this feeling is not unlike what many Minnesotans experience in the dead of winter,...
O Great Mystery by Tony Barr
In Minnesota we’ve been enjoying a winter thaw, raising our spirits and awakening our hopes for spring. This week, instead of a Sunday Morning offering, I give you a song written by Tony Barr for a lucenarium celebration–an ancient form of evening worship. This is a hymn to honor the twilight hours of the day.
The Night Journey by Laura Hansen–a Search for Oasis
Laura Hansen’s recent collection of short-form literature, The Night Journey: Stories and Poems, is an invitation to wander through the realms of legend, myth, dream, memory, and encounter, in search of the heart’s home.
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Do you value Minnesota poets and lyricists? Your monthly or one-time contribution will help us work to connect local writers to local local audiences. We are the only organization focusing a multi-media spotlight exclusively on Minnesota poets and songwriters, and your support matters.
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Do you value Minnesota poets and lyricists? Your monthly or one-time contribution will help us work to connect local writers to local local audiences. We are the only organization focusing a multi-media spotlight exclusively on Minnesota poets and songwriters, and your support matters.