Wednesday, 2 February 2022

Imbolc Cyberspace Poetry Slam


Today is Imbolc, a pagan holiday which celebrates, not Spring per se, but rather, the promise of Spring. It is also the sacred day of Brigid the Bright, the Celtic Goddess of (among other things) poetry.

The Imbolc Cyberspace Poetry Slam has been celebrated for quite a few years now by many pagans around the blogosphere. On February 1st (Imbolc Eve) or February 2nd (Imbolc), people post a favourite poem written by themselves or by another poet so that, collectively, a vast internet web of poetry is woven to honour Brigid.

This year I am posting a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk who recently passed away at the age of 95. He was a peace activist, author, poet and beloved teacher of mindfulness and walking meditation. Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in the 1960s.


The Good News
by Thich Nhat Hanh

They don’t publish
the good news.
The good news is published
by us.
We have a special edition every moment,
and we need you to read it.
The good news is that you are alive,
and the linden tree is still there,
standing firm in the harsh winter.
The good news is that you have wonderful eyes
to touch the blue sky.
The good news is that your child is there before you,
and your arms are available:
hugging is possible.
They only print what is wrong.
Look at each of our special editions.
We always offer the things that are not wrong.
We want you to benefit from them
and help protect them.
The dandelion is there by the sidewalk,
smiling its wondrous smile,
singing the song of eternity.
Listen! You have ears that can hear it.
Bow your head.
Listen to it.
Leave behind the world of sorrow
and preoccupation
and get free.
The latest good news
is that you can do it.

This poem is even more resonant in our currently troubled, unsettled times. My favourite image in the poem is the dandelion "there by the sidewalk, smiling its wondrous smile, singing the song of eternity" despite all the odds against it.

"Grow where you're planted" and "Never give up" are valuable lessons for us all!





43 comments:

  1. I worry that the 24 hour cable new systems, making news entertainment, and a profit center for media companies, is speeding the decline of a civil society. We don't have a weather forecast, we have "THE SEVER WEATHER CENTER" they need a crisis to live up to the name. I just want to know how warm it is going to be and if I need an umbrella.

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  2. I have to admit to never having heard of Imbolc.

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  3. This is wonderful, Debra. Thank you. I love the fussy rose and the feisty dandelion, too.

    The poem's a poignant choice, very fitting and cheering at the same time.

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  4. Roses flourish here in the harsh New Mexico climate and poor soil. All living things seem to have the "will to live" and we appreciate their tenaciousness.

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  5. I liked this post! And how true about the versatile dandelion.

    I like what the day stands for, never heard of it before.

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  6. I really enjoyed this post. I see this poem coming from this peaceful man. However, I cracked up with the rose and the dandelion. Have a great day.

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  7. Hello Debra, Actually, the last few times I was in Cleveland, I noticed an almost total lack of dandelions, to the point that I checked on the internet to see if there was some wide-spread problem. If I can get back this year, I will certainly check on them.
    --Jim

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  8. Oh, I like this. That last photo really did it for me.

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  9. In my mindfullness class last week, we meditated to one of Thich Nhat Hanh's poems. It was so peaceful

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  10. Really beautiful and inspirational. We all need to focus on the good in addition to the troubling.

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  11. @ Parnassus (Jim) -- Sometimes cities spray low-grade pesticides on city property to control dandelions. The City of Edmonton used to do that. They stopped last year. Now in the Spring and early Summer, we have dandelions GALORE!!!! A sea of yellow in some spots, LOL!

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  12. Imbolc blessings to you, dear Debra! May Brigid turn her benevolent smile on you and yours.
    I love that poem so so much. It is a beautiful reminder. I also love the dandelion. The Dandy Lion. Such a irrepressible survivor! Quite a few decades ago there was a song about how the world was being paved over but the grass kept coming back, breaking up the concrete, surviving. I'm going to look that up...
    Thank you for the post!

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  13. There once was a man from Nantucket
    Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
    But his daughter named Nan,
    Ran away with a man
    And as for the bucket, Nantucket.
    But he followed the pair to Pawtucket,
    The man and the girl with the bucket;
    And he said to the man,
    He was welcome to Nan,
    But as for the bucket, Pawtucket.
    Then the pair followed Pa to Manhasset,
    Where he still held the cash as an asset,
    But Nan and the man
    Stole the money and ran,
    And as for the bucket, Manhasset.

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  14. Debra, I will ask if the local city does this kind of spray, but private homes also have this dearth of dandelions, and it seems that other suburbs do also. --Jim

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  15. There is a promise of spring with those three minutes of light every day! Yay.

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  16. I'd rather be a dandelion than a hothouse rose any day! As Thalia Took said, "Remember -- the Groundhog is the Reason for the Season!"... so Happy Groundhog Day to you and your blog followers!

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  17. Thank you for sharing this, Debra.
    I hate to admit, I'd never read anything by Thich Nhat Hanh before. I was missing out. The dandelion image is my favorite here too.

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  18. I actually love winter. But ours comes with almost no snow and temperatures that won't kill outside pets

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  19. Love this!
    "The good news is that you are alive,
    and the linden tree is still there,
    standing firm in the harsh winter."

    And I despise dandelions. Ugh. They get the best of me. And they usually win because I've let some just freeze. And then they come back.

    XOXO

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  20. @ Mike -- Damn you, Mike -- you stole my thunder for NEXT year's Imbolc Cyberspace Poetry Slam post, LOL!

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  21. Grow where you are planted was a reminder I needed today. Grateful.

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  22. I love that last picture. Tree Revival! I love trees.

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  23. When I was a kid, I often was told dandelions weren't flowers but weeds. I've since found out there's nothing particularly scientific about the word "weed" and it's just used to describe an undomesticated plant that's unwanted. Also, dandelions ARE considered flowers for the simple reason that they, in the verbal sense of the word, flower. And dandelions CAN be domesticated, though I wonder if they don't lose some of their hardiness in the process.

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  24. You've outdone yourself. A beautiful, poignant poem and outstanding memes. I love dandelions and welcome them every spring, summer and fall (and on some warm days in winter, the darlings!)

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  25. one of the mooooost beautiful post i have ever read dear Debra !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    it must win award like Nobel prize as you nailed it awesomely my wonderful friend !

    thank you for sharing the beautiful poem and the beautiful person who wrote it i never ever want to miss such treasure believe me .

    love the whole poem but last line is most powerful !
    thanks again!

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  26. I love that poem. My favorite line - hugging is possible. Thank you Debra.

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  27. I hadn't heard of the poetry slam but I absolutely love this idea! We had a quiet family Imbolc celebration in our garden and now I wish I had read some poems perhaps... Something to keep in mind next year!

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  28. What a touching and beautiful poem. You are right, it is so relative to our world today.
    I love those dandelions; they will put up with any sort of environment and still thrive. I want to be a dandelion!

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  29. I love this post. The quote, and the images are wonderful. I have a fondness for dandelions. If they were difficult to grow most people wound want one.

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  30. Beautiful poem that we can all relate to. Isn't is fabulous fun to see a flower growing up through a concrete crack or other unexpected place? Thich Nhat Hanh said it perfectly.

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  31. That last picture really made me smile

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  32. So it's another name for Candlemas? I totally forgot to mention it on my blog, by the way.

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  33. Traditionally on this day I would start my gardens, early tomatoes, in the basement under light on heater pads.
    I miss this.

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  34. We have dandelions of course but also wild violets that seem to be indestructible and bloom year round, even under snow.
    Grow where we are planted is such good advice

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  35. Beautiful poem! Imbolc blessings to you, Debra! We are overloaded with dandelions around here...and I don't care! Let them grow.

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  36. dandelions are some tough sonsabitches

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  37. What a fabulous poem! I love it and will copy it for Facebook.
    And dandelions are very beautiful as well as tough.

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  38. Thich Nhat Hanh's poem is wonderful and inspiring, Debra!. I dearly love dandelions. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of carrying them in my wedding bouquet. You have to admire the tenacity and resilience of these vibrant weeds.

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  39. Love!!!!! Thank you for the poem!!!
    "Grow where you're planted" and "Never give up" are valuable lessons for us all!" Excellent!!
    Big Hugs!

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