Postcard
Lately, I am capable only of small things.
Is it enough
to feel the heart swimming?
Jim is fine. Our first
garden is thick with spinach
and white radish. Strangely,
it is summer
but also winter and fall.
In response to your asking:
I fill the hours
then lick them shut.
Today, not a single word, but the birds
quietly nodding
as if someone had suggested
moving on.
What is that perfect thing
some one who once believed in god said?
Please don’t misunderstand:
We still suffer, but we are
happy.
The old poems hold power. Postcard appears in And Her Soul Out of Nothing a book published in 1997 and one that I return to repeatedly and appreciate more with each reading.
How timely this poem is, still and again. At the pandemic’s one year mark, I feel small still, again. And lately every action takes great effort.
The antidote? I’m writing through. You, too?
Yes? — good, let’s try something new.
No? — that’s okay, let’s use our smallness as a start.
Try This: Write a Postcard
A postcard is an ideal tool because the space is small and the pressure low. You can write a brief and breezy message, a short sassy statement, a quick observation, a poetic plea. There are no rules and you can’t mess up. The best part? Penning a postcard is a simple act that moves the hand and stirs thoughts, and together the action energizes your writing mind.
Step 1
Pick a postcard — find them at the grocery store, on amazon, thrift shops, in the back of your junk drawer. Or make your own, which is fun for you and a treat for the recipient who gets a handwritten note + homemade art!
Step 2
Write a postcard to anyone — a friend or family member, your younger self, your older self, a stranger, a lover, the mailman, your dog . . .
Need a jumpstart? Lift a line from Postcard and keep going:*:
I am capable only of small things
I fill the hours then lick them shut.
Step 3
Mail the card — or don’t. You get to choose.
* When lifting, always provide attribution or place quotation marks around the line to indicate it is not yours. Even better, follow-up your postcard with a letter that includes the full poem (Or, even more grand, purchase the book for your postcard friend).
Keep Writing!
Try This: I Remember
Try This: Word Catching
Try This: Wild Cards
Try This: Make a Scramble
Stationery
The world is full of paper.
Write to me.