Saturday, May 20, 2017

Option B


I just read an excerpt from Sheryl Sandberg’s new book Option B: Facing Adversity, BuildingResilience, and Finding Joy. In it she talks about how shocked she was by the number of friends who did not ask her how she was doing after the death of her husband: 

“I felt invisible, as if I were standing in front of them but they couldn’t see me. When someone shows up with a cast, we immediately inquire ‘What happened?’ If your life is shattered, we don’t.” 

She goes on to talk about the white elephant in the room that nobody wanted to touch. Isn’t it odd that folks – even our closest friends – are so uncomfortable in the presence of dramatic emotional pain and loss? Not knowing what to say, they say nothing, a fact that only leads to emotional distance, just what the person in pain does not need. Both sides need to reach out and lean in.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Billy Collins


I recently listened to a performance of Billy Collins reading a collection of his poems. Not all poets read their own poems well, but Collins's readings are superb, the cadence and tone of his voice a perfect vehicle for the poems on the page. Listening to his poems, it is no surprise to me that Collins is so wildly popular. His poems speak of the ordinary and the everyday in a new and often very ironic way that illicits laughter and delight. 
Humor is one of the most distinguishing characteristics of his poetry. He knows how to be both clear and mysterious, simple and profound. Whether he is spoofing love poems that pile on excessive metaphors on the beloved - as he does in "Litany," or describing the poignant vulnerability of a building ruined by an explosion - as he does in "Building With Its Face Blown Off," he is a master of his craft.