Poem for the Day: August 29th, 2021

Good Bones by Maggie Smith

This place could be beautiful, right? You could make this place beautiful.

Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine 
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways 
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least 
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative 
estimate, though I keep this from my children. 
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird. 
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged, 
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world 
is at least half terrible, and for every kind 
stranger, there is one who would break you, 
though I keep this from my children. I am trying 
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor, 
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on 
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.

Quote for the Day: August 29th, 2021

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
Lao Tzu

Haiku IV

Haiku IV by Fred Slusher

Sweat and tears taste the 
same if you know what to do
with another tongue

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at fred.slusher@thevoraciousbibliophile.com or catch me on Twitter and Instagram @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.

Poem for the Day: August 28th, 2021

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

You do not have to be good. 
You do not have to walk on your knees 
For a hundred miles through the desert repenting. 
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
love what it loves. 
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. 
Meanwhile the world goes on. 
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain 
are moving across the landscapes, 
over the prairies and the deep trees, 
the mountains and the rivers. 
Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, 
are heading home again. 
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—
over and over announcing your place 
in the family of things.

Quote for the Day: August 28th, 2021

People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.
George Bernard Shaw

Haiku III

Haiku III by Fred Slusher

New man on the block 
Wet with pride and pride and prejudice 
Never young for long

From the Archives: How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones

**Book Review: How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones**

***Note: This review was originally posted to my Goodreads account in October of 2019.***

Everyone has a lie we’re quietly waiting to believe.

With startling economy of language, Saeed Jones tells his story with such precision that after turning the last page you feel as if you’ve been borrowing his skin.

If you read one book this year, let this be it. Please.

Poem for the Day: August 27th, 2021

Prayer by Ellen Bass

I want to stop wanting to be wanted like that.

Once I wore a dress liquid as vodka. 
My lover watched me ascend 
from the subway 
like I was an underground spring 
breaking through. 
I want to stop wanting to be wanted like that. 
I’m tired of the song the rain sings in June, 
the chorus of hope, the ravenous green, 
the earth, her ornate crown of trees 
spiking up from her loamy head. 
There are things I wanted, like everyone. 
But to this angel of wishes I’ve worshiped 
so long, I ask now to admit 
the world as it is.

Quote for the Day: August 27th, 2021

If you get close to what you love, who you are is revealed to you.
Ethan Hawke

Today’s quote resonates with me in a very profound way. I think the most beautiful thing in the world must be witnessing, or better yet experiencing, certainty to purpose. So many of us stumble through life chasing things that don’t really hold any value, but when we find something we love, we’re fools if we don’t grab ahold of it and never let it go.

We only have one shot at getting this right. One chance at deciding what matters and who we’re going to be.

My hope for myself, and for all of you reading this, is that we have the courage to wake up every day and choose ourselves, to prioritize our dreams over life’s routines and mundanities. We only have one shot at getting this right. One chance at deciding what matters and who we’re going to be. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Live—and love—with no regrets. Or don’t. It’s up to you.

Haiku II

Haiku II by Fred Slusher

Every morning 
Days of unfettered glory 
Night’s a dram of tears

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please follow, like, comment, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at thevoraciousbibliophile@yahoo.com or catch me on Twitter @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.