Gratitude #2. Otherwising. Singing. Cigaring. A Five Variations Poem. 30 Days of Gratitude Continued.

Living the Comma

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Otherwise

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise. — from Jane Kenyon, “Otherwise”

Gratitude is the otherwise. 

The otherwise is the dawn. The otherwise is the half full. The otherwise is the elastic. The otherwise is the soft. The otherwise is the flesh. The otherwise the bone. The otherwise is the curvy. The otherwise is the swish. The otherwise is the swerve. The otherwise is the attention. The otherwise is the embrace. The otherwise is the thing with feathers. The otherwise is about the as if. The otherwise is about the I am. The otherwise is about the not yet.

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The Gift to Sing

Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day—
I softly sing. — from James Weldon Johnson, “The Gift to Sing”

It is a gift to sing. It is a gift to sing. It is a gift to sing. 

Singing loves. Singing resists. Singing empowers. Singing holds. Singing imagines. Singing inspires. Singing infuses. Singing fortifies. Singing sustains. Singing connects. Singing conjures. Singing conspires. Singing forgives. Singing empathizes. Singing metabolizes. Singing alchemizes. Singing harmonizes. 

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Gratification to the survivors of daily damnations

Cigar this life and light it with the sun. 
Breathe this poem in. Own a spot on a cliff or an edge 
or somewhere that can carry a stamp of your body. 
Become. Open a book and see this trapped time 
I left for you to live all over. — Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi, “Gratification to the survivors of daily damnations”

Gratification is a gift. Breathing is a gift. Owning is a gift. Carrying is a gift. Becoming is a gift. Opening is a gift. Aliveness is a gift. 

What does it mean to cigar a life? To cigar this life, we must savor. To cigar this life, we must breathe. To cigar this life, we must taste. To cigar this life, we must let our fingers move through soil. To cigar this life, we must walk ten toes down on the earth. To cigar this life, we must spread our wings and soar. To cigar this life, we must consider time and legacy and generations. To cigar this life, we must pay attention. To cigar this life, we must remember coral thrives on shipwrecks. To cigar this life, we must remember irises blooms in snow. To cigar this life, we must remember the power of fire and water. To cigar this life, we must live into oneness. To cigar this life we, must believe in miracles. To cigar this life, we must live into aliveness. 

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30 Days of Gratitude

On Gratitude

Why write love poetry in a burning world? To train myself, in the midst of a burning world, to offer poems of love to a burning world. — Katie Ferris

About a decade ago —searching for hope and desperate to make sense of our times— I reached out to people whose lives are love poems to our burning world. I cast my net far and wide amongst my heroes, those I knew up close and those I knew from a distance. I invited artists, business people, non-profit and union leaders, military, professors, psychologists, yogis, writers, and others into a dialogue about gratitude. I conducted, transcribed, edited, and published the gratitude interviews on my website.

It has been several years since the gratitude interviews. Change has happened in our lives. Births. Deaths. Jobs. Publications. Productions. Climate Change. A Pandemic. A Vaccine. Elections. Insurrection. Technology. Wars. Sunrise. Sunset. Moons. All matters of light and dark. Falling apart and back together. Breathing and stretching. Climbing mountains and exploring caves. Doing dishes and writing newsletters. I keep looking for gratitude. I keep paying attention to glimmers and delight. I keep holding tightly to gratitude — deep, abiding, warm, beautiful, sturdy, surprising, constant — even and especially when hard things happen. Consider each gratitude interview a window into grateful living. Consider each gratitude interview an evergreen example of gratitude’s constitution. Consider each gratitude interview a love poem to a burning world.

30 Days of Gratitude — Gratitude Conversations

A Psychology of Gratitude: A Gratitude Conversation with Dr. Anthony Ahrens

The Choice: A Gratitude Conversation with Aimee Imundo

Love Opens Up : A Gratitude Conversation with Col. Liesl Carter

Getting to Cleveland : A Gratitude Conversation with Seth Godin

Just Plain Kindness: A Gratitude Conversation with Robin Kropf

Running Wild and Free: A Gratitude Conversation with Lara MacGregor

Call Out The Good: A Gratitude Conversation With Seana Murphy

We All Breathe the Same Air: A Gratitude Conversation with Janice Nolen

Feeding the Good Wolf: A Gratitude Conversation with Dr. Ferial Peterson

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Writing Exercise — Five Variations From A Thief

An adaptation of Mondays Are Free Exercise 227

Living the Comma Writing Exercises are inspired by the Beyond with Jane Ratcliff, The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad, Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert, the Mondays are Free writing project by Ross Gay and Patrick Rosal, The Clearing by Katherine May, Writer-ish with Darien Gee, and Writing in the Dark with Jeannine Ouelette communities.

Step 1: Daily Gratitude Practice Update.

If you have kept a daily gratitude list this month, what have you noticed? Is it easy/hard to find gratitude, Why/why not? Where do you find gratitude? Have you learned anything about gratitude thus far? Are there gratitude themes? Are there gratitude surprises?

Step 2: Select Five Variations Lines

Take a look at each of the poems in this week’s newsletter. Read and reread each poem — Jane Kenyon, “Otherwise”, James Weldon Johnson, “The Gift to Sing”, Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi, “Gratification to the survivors of daily damnations”, — Listen to the way each poem feels and sounds. Look for memorable turns of phrases and favorite lines. Breathe into each poem. Reflect. Select a line from each poem. 

Step 3: Draft Your Five Variations From A Thief Poem

Once you have selected 3 lines (one from each poem), write a non-rhyming poem made of five-line stanzas (cinquains). It should have five stanzas in all (5 lines x 5 stanzas = 25 lines)It should have five stanzas in all (5 lines x 5 stanzas = 25 lines). Patrick Rosal — the author of this exercise — declares, “Steal your favorite line of poetry and use it five times in this poem, once in each stanza. Also, don’t let the stolen line appear in the same stanzaic location twice. For example, it can’t be the third line of a cinquain more than once.”

Step 4: Craft Your Five Variations From A Thief Poem 

Once your Five Variations From A Thief Poem is drafted, begin to frame and tailor and distill. Feel the freedom of the constraints — writing 15 lines, selecting 5 favorite lines, and using the 5 selected lines 5 times in different stanzas. Notice the difference editing makes in your process and product. 

Step 5: Share Your Five Variations From A Thief Poem

Take a moment to read your Five Variations From A Thief Poem aloud again. Share your poem in the comments to this post. Consider bringing your poem to our writing group.

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Join me in exploring the otherwise, singing the songs, and cigaring this life. Join us — either in-person or virtually — tomorrow night, November 10th. Come write and connect. Come build and create. Come celebrate gratitude and give thanks. 

From the heart of the comma. 

Katie

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