{"id":8265,"date":"2023-06-09T08:23:19","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T15:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8265"},"modified":"2023-06-09T08:23:19","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T15:23:19","slug":"john-fox-the-poem-waits-at-its-own-core","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2023\/06\/09\/john-fox-the-poem-waits-at-its-own-core\/","title":{"rendered":"John Fox – The Poem Waits at Its Own Core"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Poem Waits at Its Own Core
\nby John Fox<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The poem at its core
\nIs snow or egg,
\nThe new moon or grass
\nIn spring.<\/p>\n

All these pause at the edge
\nOf change. There is a deep
\nStillness you must pass through
\nTo get close to what waits.<\/p>\n

At this edge, you leave
\nEverything behind
\nExcept what the poem needs:
\nWarmth, rain, silence,
\nGravity \u2014
\nMake it something you know
\nOnly for the first time:<\/p>\n

A river, heartbeat,
\nCradle, field of play.
\nThe place where all things
\nBegin again.<\/em><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Nicolas Messifet<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I like the idea that animates this poem, that there is a sort of a poem within a poem, the real poem, so to speak, at the heart of the surface poem. And that inner poem, like \u201cthe new moon or grass in spring\u201d is always on the edge of change.<\/p>\n

To uncover that living part of the poem, we must cultivate stillness within ourselves\u2013<\/p>\n

There is a deep
\nStillness you must pass through
\nTo get close to what waits.<\/i><\/p>\n

To get there we must let everything fall away, cling to nothing, arrive empty handed\u2013<\/p>\n

At this edge, you leave
\nEverything behind\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

And then we have that surprising line,<\/p>\n

Except what the poem needs<\/i><\/p>\n

What is it that the poem needs from us?<\/p>\n

Warmth, rain, silence,
\nGravity \u2014<\/i><\/p>\n

Then we are told to\u2013<\/p>\n

Make it something you know
\nOnly for the first time<\/i><\/p>\n

That\u2019s something not to rush past. I\u2019ve thought a lot about this idea in various forms as it applies to awareness and the spiritual path. The awareness is most alive and receptive when encountering something utterly new and for the first time. As we get older, however, with more experiences under our belt, very little feels new to us. As a result, our perception of life can feel coated with a heave veneer. We can feel numb, experiences are no longer fresh, meaning feels flattened. The real issue is not whether or not the experience is new, but whether we approach with openness. It\u2019s not a question of always having new experiences, it is about cultivating still and receptive awareness. <\/p>\n

A river, heartbeat,
\nCradle, field of play.<\/i><\/p>\n

It requires a sense of flow and centeredness and play.<\/p>\n

Every experience, even one encountered daily, is unique and magical. Every experience is potentially a doorway into the unknown \u2014 when approached honestly and without projection.<\/p>\n

Even a poem. Perhaps especially a poem.<\/p>\n

It too becomes\u2013<\/p>\n

The place where all things
\nBegin again.<\/i><\/p>\n

===<\/p>\n

John Fox is the founder of the Institute for Poetic Medicine and the author of several excellent books on the healing power of poetry, including Poetic Medicine<\/a> and Finding What You Didn\u2019t Lose<\/a>. Highly recommended reading!<\/p>\n

Have a beautiful day!<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: John Fox<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

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

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Diamond Cutters: Visionary Poets in America, Britain & Oceania<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nPoetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nFinding What You Didn\u2019t Lose: Expressing Your Truth and Creativity Through Poem-Making<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n\"John<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nJohn Fox<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (Contemporary)
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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

The Poem Waits at Its Own Core by John Fox The poem at its core Is snow or egg, The new moon or grass In spring. All these pause at the edge Of change. There is a deep Stillness you must pass through To get close to what waits. At this edge, you leave Everything […]<\/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":[2524,2525,1446,700],"class_list":["post-8265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-john-fox","tag-open-awareness","tag-poetry-2","tag-silence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8265","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=8265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8266,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8265\/revisions\/8266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}