Say yes.
Yes opens the door.
Lately, I've enjoyed a sequence of yes. Like shopping for a car, once you notice the Subura, you see Suburas everywhere (or you just live in Oregon).
My friend Vicki sends out a weekly poem (she researches and writes backstory on each poet. It's a great free service produced by a real poetry appreciator). A few months ago she asked me to serve as guest curator. I shared a few of my favorite poems, including God Says Yes to Me by Kaylin Haught, and concluded with one of my own, Turn Up the Quiet.
One of her readers noted that yes made a frequent appearance. I hadn't noticed, and thus, began a fun exchange:
In response to yes, Careful Reader sent me a no poem by Vsevolod Nekrasov:
no no
no and no
no and no and no and no
and no and no and no and no
and no
and I no
I responded with another yes poem, an excerpt from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong:
Say amen. Say amend.
Say yes. Say yes
anyway.
When Careful Reader said she was having trouble finding no poems, I felt heartened. Yes had triumphed.
Still, I kept on the search, digging up more yes poems (though at this point, vindicated, I kept them to myself). I found this poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer:
Divining
Not just on the wall—
the writing's on the sky,
the river, the bridge, your hands.
Wouldn't you love to believe
all those blue and red lines
make a map, and if only
you could read those lines,
you might know where to go
from here? Yes, we're lost
and wrinkled and surely doomed,
but god, in this moment
between concerns, isn't it beautiful,
the place where we wander,
this hour when gold gathers
just before the plum of night?
Wanting to know more, I discovered Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer approaches writing and life with yes. I liked her style, and I reached out to learn more. Rosemerry is now featured on the blog series I host, 3 Good Books, sharing her top picks on the theme of, you guessed it, Yes.
Don't you love the power of poetry, how it nudges us to pause and consider, how it moves us toward yes?
It's Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to express appreciation for people, places, things, and more. What are you thankful for today?