{"id":5964,"date":"2018-01-05T10:14:18","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T17:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=5964"},"modified":"2018-01-05T10:14:18","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T17:14:18","slug":"pat-schneider-the-patience-of-ordinary-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/pat-schneider-the-patience-of-ordinary-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Schneider – The Patience of Ordinary Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patience of Ordinary Things
\nby Pat Schneider<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a kind of love, is it not?
\nHow the cup holds the tea,
\nHow the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
\nHow the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
\nOr toes. How soles of feet know
\nWhere they\u2019re supposed to be.
\nI\u2019ve been thinking about the patience
\nOf ordinary things, how clothes
\nWait respectfully in closets
\nAnd soap dries quietly in the dish,
\nAnd towels drink the wet
\nFrom the skin of the back.
\nAnd the lovely repetition of stairs.
\nAnd what is more generous than a window?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Another River: New and Selected Poems<\/a>, by Pat Schneider<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by snap713<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I\u2019m back. We\u2019re back. The Poetry Chaikhana is back.<\/p>\n

Sorry about the unannounced hiatus, but I decided I should take some time to recharge my batteries.<\/p>\n

I hope it was a special Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, New Year (pick any or all of the above) for you and your families.<\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

I want to say, Thank you, Lalita, for introducing me to this poem. Since I am new to Pat Schneider\u2019s writing, I don\u2019t know much about her. I look forward to learning more. <\/p>\n

It is a kind of love, is it not?
\nHow the cup holds the tea\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

There is something supremely settling about this poem. The poet reminds us to see how each object, simply by acting according to their nature is actually an embodiment of a sort of universal love.<\/p>\n

How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
\nHow the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
\nOr toes. How soles of feet know
\nWhere they\u2019re supposed to be.<\/i><\/p>\n

Objects simply are as they are, and their \u201cactions\u201d naturally flow from their form. Through being, self-acceptance, and natural self-expression, these objects express a humble enlightenment and service in the world.<\/p>\n

We just need to see it. And learn from these quiet teachers.<\/p>\n

And what is more generous than a window?<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Pat Schneider<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Another River: New and Selected Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nWriting Alone and with Others<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nOlive Street Transfer<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nHow the Light Gets In: Writing as a Spiritual Practice<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nWake Up Laughing: A Spiritual Autobiography<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Pat<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nPat Schneider<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (Contemporary)
\n<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

More poetry by Pat Schneider<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Patience of Ordinary Things by Pat Schneider It is a kind of love, is it not? How the cup holds the tea, How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare, How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes Or toes. How soles of feet know Where they\u2019re supposed to be. I\u2019ve been thinking about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2130,2129,814],"class_list":["post-5964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-ordinary-things","tag-pat-schneider","tag-self-acceptance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5965,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions\/5965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}