{"id":8402,"date":"2024-04-12T09:46:09","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T16:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8402"},"modified":"2024-04-12T09:46:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T16:46:09","slug":"ivan-m-granger-first-dawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/12\/ivan-m-granger-first-dawn\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivan M. Granger – First dawn"},"content":{"rendered":"

First dawn
\nby Ivan M. Granger<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

First dawn. Even the
\nbirds in the tallest pines are
\nsurprised by the sun.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Real Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey<\/a>, by Ivan M. Granger<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Evgeni Dinev<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I have been enjoying the spring mornings here in Eugene, Oregon. Some mornings there is a light rain falling, the world is sleepy and self-enclosed, then on other days we get morning sunshine, everything glistens and awakens to a sense of celebration. Sometimes before we begin work, my wife and I will go to a local coffee shop. I\u2019ll get a warm cup of tea. We read and chat, listening to the hum of the community, people talking in hushed tones, the life of our small city recognizing itself. Such moments are nourishing to the soul.<\/p>\n

I am especially appreciative of all this because of a few milestones in my life. Last week I had my birthday. I turned 55. The number feels foreign to me. It\u2019s as if time stopped when I was 35. I haven\u2019t really aged. My hair has just gotten grayer. Can anyone else relate to that feeling?<\/p>\n

The other milestone: I was just honored at my work for 30 years of employment. For someone who has moved around the country and, because of health issues, has not always been able to work full time hours in the week, I am amazed \u2014 and grateful \u2014 to have found early on an employer who has been stable and adaptable and accepting. Wherever I\u2019ve lived and whatever my work rhythms, they were always there, so I never felt the need to move on.<\/p>\n

The renewal of springtime and these experiences invite me to reflect back on the year and a half since my wife and I moved back to Eugene. We have had so many wonderful moments returning to our childhood hometown, but the year following our move was also quite challenging. At the beginning of last year my wife was hospitalized and kept in the ICU for several days following a severe asthma attack. As she recovered, we were able to get her on new medication, and the change has been profound. It was a year of difficult finances, requiring me to put as many hours as possible into my day job. At times I felt badly, as if I have been neglecting you, the Poetry Chaikhana community, as a result. I hope to be able to do more with the Poetry Chaikhana in the future.<\/p>\n

We never really control the circumstances of our lives. We make plans, formulate expectations, and try to build the daily structures of our lives that will lead to those outcomes \u2014 but then life plays out as it will. That regular, steady, structural process has not been my strongest suit, though I have gotten better at it in those timeless twenty years from 35 to 55. Where I have found strength, however, is in the ability to ride the flow of life, even when the details have gotten messy.<\/p>\n

I look outside the window. It\u2019s a cloudy morning. The ground is still damp with last night\u2019s rainfall. But the birds are cautiously emerging and sharing their song. We have the promise of a beautiful day. That\u2019s when our work begins, amidst the requirements of life, to discover for ourselves the beauty waiting for us.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Ivan M. Granger<\/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
The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThis Dance of Bliss: Ecstatic Poetry from Around the World<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nReal Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nFor Lovers of God Everywhere: Poems of the Christian Mystics<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nDiamond Cutters: Visionary Poets in America, Britain & Oceania<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Ivan<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nIvan M. Granger<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (1969 \u2013 )
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\nYoga \/ Hindu<\/a> : Advaita \/ Non-Dualist<\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Ivan M. Granger is the founder and editor of the Poetry Chaikhana<\/i>, a publishing house and online resource for sacred poetry from around the world. He is the author of Real Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey<\/i>. He is also the editor of The Longing in Between: A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology<\/i> and This Dance of Bliss: Ecstatic Poetry from Around the World<\/i>. His poetry and translations have been included in several magazines and anthologies. <\/p>\n

Ivan grew up in Oregon and Southern California, and he has lived on the island of Maui and for many years in Colorado. He lives in Oregon with his wife, Michele.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoetry has an immediate effect on the mind. The simple act of reading poetry alters thought patterns and the shuttle of the breath. Poetry induces trance. Its words are chant. Its rhythms are drumbeats. Its images become the icons of the inner eye. Poetry is more than a description of the sacred experience; it carries the experience itself.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

==<\/p>\n

Poetry Chaikhana readers often ask me about myself. Who is the guy behind all those poetry emails? What drew you to sacred poetry? And just what does \u201cPoetry Chaikhana\u201d mean?<\/p>\n

As a way to answer some of those questions, I thought I\u2019d post an audio interview<\/a> I did a few years ago. I talk a little about myself, and a lot about poetry \u2014 the transformational power of poetry, the ways poetry naturally expresses the sacred experience, the non-dogmatic nature of poetry. And I read a few poems.<\/p>\n

Click to listen: Interview with Ivan M. Granger<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

==<\/p>\n

Email Ivan M. Granger<\/a><\/p>\n