A Break for Some Poetry

 As the post-a-day program wears on-- I have to say I'm pretty psyched that I have managed this long-- I am forced to rely on the words of others yet again to get this done.  Today I was paging through some poetry books at the library and thought I would pass on a couple here that I really like. 
 
 The first is Keeping Things Whole by Mark Strand.  I love the way this poem conveys the idea that we are just part of the greater goings-on that make up the world.  Somehow, these lines:
 
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.
 
When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body's been.
always make me pause and think that I am a small, yet integral,  part of things, and that, to me, is a great relief, and therefore, very comforting.
 
The next one is a love poem, Litany by Billy Collins.  He is a great poet of the contemporary world, and a very astute observer of human action and emotion. the poem uses references to lovely things in the world to show that each of the two partners is important.  The end of the poem is the part I like best:
 
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.    
 
And, for something completely different, there is this, in its entirety, by Dorothy Parker, the wit of yesteryear, commenting sadly on love and how it can fool us:    
 

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Romania.

 
I think anyone who can find a word that rhymes with Romania deserves to be remembered forever.
 

Top quote from this totally awesome page of quotes about poetry. Cocteau image from here.