Poet Wisdom - Openings of the Heart

‘In a dark time, the eye begins to see,’

Theodore Roethke. 

In a hard time, the heart is challenged to stay open. We will look at some diverse texts, mainly poems. We will consider poems by Anna Akmatova, Christian Wiman and Seamus Heaney. What they share is that they all involve an opening of the heart. It might come through an apology and a perceptive acknowledgement of the deep value of the sometime adversary. It might happen when, after a long period of struggle with faith, meaning and other personal matters, one is joined silently but attentively by a partner. Or it might be a reaching out to that partner, after a period of loneliness. It might happen when startled by the beauty and the uncanny in nature. Each experience and each writing is different and very unique. But all are tales that illuminate deeply felt experiences and challenge us to a…