National Poetry Month

[brigdh]

Don’t Hesitate by Mary Oliver

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,

don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty

of lives and whole towns destroyed or about

to be. We are not wise, and not very often

kind. And much can never be redeemed.

Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this

is its way of fighting back, that sometimes

something happens better than all the riches

or power in the world. It could be anything,

but very likely you notice it in the instant

when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the

case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid

of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

Comments

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing! I like this a lot, though the "anyway" used twice in succession feels like a piece of grit in my shoe...

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that doubled "anyway" really does stand out. I sort of like it, though: it gives it an unnatural rhythm that I assume is an intended effect.

[veleda-k.livejournal.com]

I love Mary Oliver.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I think she's my favorite modern poet.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

This is beautiful.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[bluedelirium.livejournal.com]

Mary Oliver is so great, but I had never read this! Thanks! I like April because it's the start of spring, but reading new poems is definitely also a factor. :)

[bluedelirium.livejournal.com]

Oh, and since I'm not lurking, for once-- I checked out the Benjamin January series a while ago, and really really loved them! I wouldn't have thought to read a mystery series if not for your recommendation, so thank you! I read the first four books in two weeks, and now I'm trying to pace myself.....

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I hadn't read this poem before, either! I saw someone else post it recently, and stole it for myself, ha.

AND YAY BENJAMIN JANUARY! Tell me all your thoughts! Who's your favorite character so far? Are you shipping anyone? Which is your favorite book? Had you heard of Delphine Lalaurie before, or was that plot a surprise to you?

[bluedelirium.livejournal.com]

This is boring, but I actually think Benjamin himself is my favorite character! I think his internal struggle over just how much indignity and injustice he is willing to tolerate in order to stay in a town he loves (despite himself) is really interesting. I also really like Shaw and Olympe, though-- Shaw because he's so unexpected but also surprisingly real, and Olympe is just a badass, yeah.

As far as shipping: Hannibal/his fiddle, hahaha. Since I've only finished the fourth book, I don't think I'm actively shipping anyone yet. I can kind of see Hannibal and Benjamin having a sort of thing before Ben gets serious with Rose, especially given his relatively laid-back reaction to Mayerling, but the problem is that the only time frame that works in Ben is fresh in the city and doesn't really know Hannibal that well, and is still mourning his wife besides. I can see the possible OT3 developing nicely in later books, though!

I liked the first book a lot, and the one on voodoo (I think the third?). I happened to pick up the first book in February, and I was dearly missing my New Orleans friends at the time, so that might be part of it. Weirdly I didn't really enjoy living in New Orleans during Carnivale-- it gets so crazy and crowded-- but the nostalgia factor made the book more potent for me. In general these books hit me that way, though! The way the Quarter has not changed much at all, but the rest of the city has, hugely. There's a part in the third book when Ben is wandering in the swamps and I realize that the area he's in becomes the general location of one of my favorite after-work bars, ha. I'd heard Delphine Lalaurie's name but wasn't familiar with the story, so it was a surprise! Although her evil-ness is clear pretty early on in that book.

Aaagh, sorry this is so long, I am so full of thoughts. I actually bought the first book for my mother for her birthday just so I could talk to someone about it; she read it and loved it too, luckily.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Ha, there is no such thing as too-long a comment about Ben January.

Ben is an excellent choice for favorite character! He is fantastic. I love his drive to help others, and his loneliness and how important family (in both the of-blood and of-choice sense) is to him, how funny he can be, his ease with code-switching and being sneaky, how he has a sort of respectable dignity even while he's mostly drawn to people who are outcasts in one way or another. I love how he just sort of off-handedly takes Hannibal into his home, and goes searching for Rose when she disappears, and adopts all sorts of people into his life, and just how much he needs people. I love that he is both a Great Big Hero with a heart of gold, and also sort of a geek and fond of dumb jokes and nosy curious. Ah, the scene at the end of 'Sold Down the River', where he cries after finding out about his father, just breaks my heart.

Olympe is AMAZING and I wish she were more of a major character than she is. I want to know everything about her. I would love to find out how her and Paul's relationship started.

Hannibal/his fiddle is an excellent ship! I kinda ship nearly every possible combination of characters, but the OT3 gets much more intense as the series goes along.

The voodoo book is great. I love the ambiguity of the end- where it's not quite clear if something supernatural has happened. I also love the mystery in that way. The last scene with Ben and Mathurin Jumon is absolutely amazing, for how it's horrifying and tragic and sympathetic all mixed together.

I've never been to New Orleans! I've been wanting to visit for years and years, but unfortunately have never had the opportunity. Maybe in the future!

Ha, I also talked my mom into reading the books. She's very into Shaw; she told me she would have cast a young Clint Eastwood as him.

[myrabidpetspoon.livejournal.com]

I really like this one.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you!