I have a particular affinity for daffodils. I’ve taken dozens of pictures of them this spring alone. They’re almost done here, but I found this lovely this morning, and it seemed like a special gift to me. So I wrote a poem about her.
In Her Prime
By Michelle Garren Flye
A little wrinkled,
She holds up her bobbing head.
Not done yet, she says.
Author’s Note: Happy shared birthday, RBG. Sometimes wrinkles make you stronger.
By this point everyone probably thinks they know Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah”. It’s been in movies and television. Even Kate McKinnon had a go at it on Saturday Night Live. So even if, like many, you’re confused about the meaning of the song, you probably think you have heard it from beginning to end.
Possibly think again.
For my own reasons I’ve been doing some research on this song. It was supposed to be a simple Google search, but I found a rabbit hole and plunged right in. I found that there are more than 300 recorded versions. Not surprising considering Cohen wrote more than 80 draft verses for the song. Maybe that’s why he also recorded two versions himself.
According to legend, he spent one writing session in a motel room writing verse after verse while sitting on the floor in his underwear.
That’s quite a creative process.
In spite of all he went through to create his masterpiece, Cohen never expressed disappointment that other versions came to exist when others recorded his song. (Recording artists have rearranged verses, changed words and omitted lines.) In fact, he said himself that he believed that many hallelujahs exist. To me, this explains why he let the act of creating this work of art to consume him so. And I think he’s right. If we let ourselves, we find our own hallelujah.
By the way, I listened to many, many versions of this song while I wrote this. My favorite? Cohen’s live performance in London in 2009.
Many Hallelujahs (for LC)
By Michelle Garren Flye
A mother approaches a borderline.
Safety awaits her on the other side.
Baby in her arms, clutched against her breast—
She crosses the line and whispers, “Hallelujah.”
A black man sits alone in his car.
Flashing blue lights his rear view mirror.
He knows his fate is not his own,
So when he is told to go, he says, “Hallelujah.”
A woman awaits her weekly call
From desert sands so far away.
This world has so many dangers for her heart—
The phone rings and she cries, “Hallelujah.”
The activist lays it on the line every day,
To make a difference, he argues and persuades.
He won’t stop until he’s made it right.
Then someone listens at last and he shouts, “Hallelujah!”
The writer ponders the meaning of one word
And writes and writes, thinks it will never be his.
He bangs his head—and then it’s in his grasp.
His tired hand shakes as he declares, “Hallelujah.”
So, here’s my confession. The deepest secret I’ve been keeping for the last two months.
I’m taking singing lessons.
What? You’re not shocked? You would be if you knew me. I’ve always said I can’t carry a tune to save my life. I’ve even claimed to be tone deaf.
Long story short, my very brave and lovely voice teacher gave me first choice of songs to learn, and I chose Imagine by John Lennon. At this point, I’ve sung it so many times, I know it by heart—and by that, I mean more than just that I know every word.
It’s like those words are, literally, inscribed on my heart.
I’ve always loved the song, of course. But until I had to do the work of matching the words to the music and singing them more or less in tune, I didn’t really think about their meanings.
Imagine there’s no heaven…no hell below us…living for today…
What might the world be like if we were all driven just by the desire to live our best lives right here? On earth, right now. This is the moment we have. This is the only moment we have.
…no countries…no religion too…living life in peace…
Can you imagine that? Can you imagine living your life for your family and the people you love without imagined boundaries to separate us? No race, no patriotism, no gods to get in the way.
Am I dreamer? I bet there are more with the same dream. Heck, it’s what Star Trek is based on.
…no possessions…
That’s a big one, isn’t it? That’s why the next line is, “I wonder if you can.” It’s a big ask. A revolutionary thought in a capitalistic society that puts different values on skills. But what if everyone’s skills were regarded with the same value? If we truly reached that point of nirvana where the garbage collector’s service is of the same value as the teacher’s and the doctor’s?
…no need for greed or hunger…a brotherhood of man…
And forget lawyers and criminals because:
…imagine all the people sharing all the world…
Do you see? What Lennon dreamed was a world of pure freedom unlike anything any of us have ever experienced. I’ve dreamed of that, too. But I’ve never fought for it. Too caught up in what the world actually is to be able to see what it could be, I guess.
It may be too late to have that world, but we can dream it. We can imagine it if we try really hard—and if we can imagine it, we can work toward it.
Imagine that.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of the promise. Like the old saying, “Red sky at night, sailors’ delight.” How do we know a red sky at night means clear sailing? Because nature makes a promise and actually follows through.
This year I’ve decided to depend less on others’ promises to me and more on my own promises to myself.
“The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one’s self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.”
Was he right? Undoubtedly. We cannot depend on the “world”, whether that be our government, our friends, our schools or our churches. What really matters is the promises we make ourselves—more specifically the promises we make to ourselves that we keep.
Nature, after all, does not make its red sky vow to us. It makes it to itself. Tomorrow, it tells itself, I will make a beautiful day. And that vow shows in its beauty that it will be followed through on.
I’ve made myself a vow to reach beyond my comfort zone and try things I’ve never tried because I thought I couldn’t do them. I’ve promised myself when things are wrong in the world, I’ll do what I can to make them right. My promises are not to others. They are to me.
The result is a kind of red sky in my own soul. I’ve written a children’s book though I’ve always sworn I’m not smart enough to write for children. I’m taking singing lessons because, in spite of a lifelong love of music and singing, I’ve never thought I could sing—but I can, at least a little. I’m not as tone deaf as I thought. I’m writing poetry and I’m speaking out instead of shrugging things off. It feels right.
What red sky vow could you make?
Red Sky Vow
By Michelle Garren Flye
Make a red sky vow today.
The power comes from within.
Tomorrow is the promise—
A better and brighter day;
The end of rain, the sun will shine.
Follow through comes from you—
Light the candle of your vow,
Watch the air brighten and clear.
A red sky vow is one you make yourself
And fulfill for the good of your soul.
With great respect for Emily Dickinson
I’m Building an Army of Daffodils (with pictures as proof)
By Michelle Garren Flye
I’m building an army of daffodils.
It grows larger every day.
New recruits swell the ranks,
Bursting to take up the fight.
You’d think they’d be frightened,
But slender stems are strong,
And I’ve found them guarding
The most dark and unfriendly places.
Time and toil cannot dim golden rays.
Weather cannot bring them down.
I’m heartened by their constant grace,
Humbled by their passing allegiance.
Happy Valentine’s Day! A day dedicated to this crazy thing called love.
But why “crazy”? you ask. What do you mean by that?
Because nobody knows what causes it. And you risk ruining it by examining it too closely.
Because what else could it be but crazy to open your heart and show someone else what’s in it?
Because loving someone—or something—is the biggest risk you can ever take. If they don’t fail you, the world might. Life happens all around us every single day. And it happens to all of us in different ways all at the same time.
Because if you let love into your heart, it will take up all the space there—and if life happens to the subject of your love in a way that takes it away, the emptiness might just become a black hole that sucks you into the void.
So why, then? If it’s such a big risk, why do we do it? Why do we search for love? Why do we willingly plunge into the risky waters of love?
No one knows. And certainly no one knows better than the poets that no one knows. In his aptly titled poem “Poem”, e.e. Cummings said:
love is the voice under all silences,
the hope which has no opposite in fear;
the strength so strong mere force is feebleness:
the truth more first than sun more last than star
I like this and I feel like it comes closer to identifying the what and the why better than anything I’ve ever read. It’s like “The Force” in Star Wars. Love underlies everything, is everything, the one superhuman strength that you can’t really identify but it’s really there. It makes us stronger and weaker at the same time.
Love—whether it’s for parent, sibling, child, spouse, pet or all things—is the way we connect most intimately with the world. The more we feel, the closer we are to the universe. The more we open ourselves up to love, the more risk we are willing to take for the love—the more fragilely strong we become.
A Million (and 1) Things to Love
By Michelle Garren Flye
Where is love?
Songs simplify,
Poems complicate.
But love is there.
Reach for it.
The love of saving,
The love of believing,
The love of finding.
Love fleeting,
Love flying,
Love staying.
The world is full.
All around you, things to love.
Objects for affection.
A cat, a dog, a child.
A rose, a plant, a sunset.
A soul mate for the very lucky.
Hope will find love.
Trust will strengthen love.
Faith will keep love safe.
Reach for it.
Hold it tight in your heart—
And hope it doesn’t
Break
You
Open.
Yesterday I thought a lot about the new liberal progressive Democrats and their “Green New Deal”. Though I’ve always considered myself a moderate Democrat, it seems to me that this Green New Deal makes all kind of sense. New jobs, new infrastructure, eliminating carbon from our energy sources.
Once upon a time our nation would have embraced what now seems outrageous to so many.
As usual, I had music on when I figured out something major. And the music contributed to the resounding “click” I heard in my head. This time I was in the car, and Pink’s version of “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman came on. And…click
Why do poets and artists tend to be more liberal?
Why are so many liberals poets and artists?
(Click) We are dreamers.
It’s true. We dream of what could be or we let what is haunt us. We dream of change. We dream of life and love and liberty for all. We are patriots who believe our country can be better, and we can make it so.
We have a million, zillion dreams, and yes, they keep us up at night.
My ruminations left me with two questions, though.
1. Why is the Democratic Party afraid to own their dreams? Why not just say, yes, this is who we are and what we want, and we know we can get us there?
2. Why is everyone so afraid to dream these perfectly reasonable dreams that will benefit everyone in our country and the world at large? If we have a million, zillion dreams, there’s room for everyone in them, isn’t there?
Advice for Democrats running on a liberal agenda: Own your dreams. Stop apologizing for them. A Green New Deal is a dream worth fighting for.
What dreams do you have that are worth fighting for?
I am Liberal
By Michelle Garren Flye
We are
(Liberal)
Dreamers.
We stay awake
At night imagining
What we can be.
What you can be.
We are
(Liberal)
Believers.
We believe the world
Can welcome all.
A place for us.
A place for you.
We are
(Liberal)
Reformers.
We own our mistakes
(And yours) and fix them.
For your future.
For our future.
We are
Dreamers
Believers
Reformers
Imaginers
Romantics
Visionaries
Advocates
Innovators
Environmentalists
Activists
Scientists
Artists
Poets
Crusaders—
Liberals.
For tomorrow—photo by Michelle Garren Flye
