Prayer
Prayer
Whatever happens. Whatever
what is is is what
I want. Only that. But that.
~ Galway Kinnell ~
I am just back from the West Chester Poetry Conference….so many great poems. So many great poets. It was the best conference, I think, ever. A group of people so single-mindedly focused on poetry, all these people in love with poetry. There was no culture of complaint. No one seemed unhinged or unhappy. I heard no one express dissatisfaction with work or academia or publishing (that’s often my usual experience at conferences–I feel enveloped by unhappiness and need sometimes!). This was the conference of Joy and Light. The men wear suits and everything is in a formal rhyme scheme. Puns, lots of puns. No windbags, no long introductions, no long lines, no pandering. Everyone seems to want to make room for the poetry.
I love this poem, here, by Galway Kinnell, I keep saying it to myself. It makes all these things in my life that don’t make so much sense lately suddenly make sense. I met this poem at the conference, and so many others….what a great five days of poetry. And I had the most marvelous tub in my rooms….that has to be noted.
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