2 Min read

1 poem rec

1 podcast rec

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AVAILABLE ON PODCAST

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Sometimes I make things more complicated than they have to be.

So I’ll write what I’m thinking as if you were sitting here beside me.

I listened to a writer talk about his poem, The Truelove, which the host had read at a wedding he officiated.

The image I had as I drove home along the parkway last night has stayed with me, and I shared it with my husband over coffee this morning. It wasn’t about true love in any traditional sense.

It was about an old man in the Hebrides who would step out each morning to the shore. He pressed his hat to his chest and murmured a prayer. To the sea, before he even touched his fishing gear.

The poet watched as he sipped his tea and he found himself looking for the man every day.

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What then did the poet revere as much, to pay daily homage?

I guess that’s what prompted the poem. And, I’m not sure myself. So I cheated and pulled up the transcript from the show and learned the poet’s name. David Whyte. Then I found his poem online and searched for his books at the library.

Finally, I ordered the book.

The thing is, Whyte’s story he was telling the host and the poem, all of it, blended together for me. Now, when I read the poem, I see elements I tucked away that are NOT in the poem.

The first two lines are:

There is a faith in loving fiercely / the one who is rightfully yours.

Daily contemplation of the risks as a fisherman was a regard the old man had for the sea, for his life, for his work. And what the poet figured out, what he revered as much, was true love. Maybe, what the old man and the poet revere are one and the same.

Have faith in loving fiercely.

Perhaps, go a step further.

Dare to love fiercely.

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Thank you, TR, for sharing the link to the podcast, How I Write.

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FOOTNOTES

*The Truelove, the poem by David Whyte in full, is at this link: https://davidwhyte.substack.com/p/the-truelove

**How I Write podcast is hosted by David Perrell. This is the second episode I listened to and what a delight! As a writer and word nerd, I especially loved Robert Macfarlane’s interview.

*The book of poems by David Whyte I ordered is titled, The House of Belonging.