AN AFTERNOON OF POETRY
December 10, 2019

Five of us gathered on this snowy, grey day. Each of us brought 2-3 poems that were old or new favorites, or just seemed right for the times. We read them out loud; sometimes with a short discussion afterword, or just a moment of quiet to consider the words just read. It was a perfect way to spend an afternoon during this lively, sometimes overwhelming season. Thank you Saran, Joanie, Sheri, and Libby for sharing today.
Here are the titles of some of the poems, should you decide to sample what was read. Most can be found on the internet, except Joan's. She has yet to publish.  :)

Small Kindnesses

by Danusha Lameris

Song

by Wendell Berry

Lantern

by Annie Lightheart Snow

Happy Birthday Johnny

by Joan Ritchie

The Moment of LIft

Mary Lib, Libby, Mary, Sheri and Margie)  met in October for an enjoyable discussion of Melinda Gates' book, The Moment of Lift, How Empowering Women Changes the World. Saying that this book was inspiring is an understatement. Other descriptors included: simplistic, humble and coherent: Mary thought the writing style was "down to earth" and was impressed with the "clarity" of the writing and as well as the "decency" that was reflected in Melinda's writing.

 Margie shared 2 very opposing reviews of the book which guided some of the discussion. One highly praised the book, while the other was quite critical saying the book was "more of a whisper than a call to action". Sheri was quick to point out that while there weren't specific ways outlined to make change, the book included so many vignettes that wore definitely worth the time to read. We all agreed that it was a book well worth reading for many reasons. It was Mary Lib who expressed that there are no easy answers for the 'how to' of making a difference, but the book is valuable for knowing where to spend time and effort in doing so. Along these lines, Margie called to mind Greg Mortenson's, Three Cups of Tea, and how he expressed similar perspectives as Melinda for ensuring success when providing help in a foreign country. Along different lines, Libby was reminded of some parallels with Michelle Obama's book, Becoming, (the value of partnership within a relationship.)

Specific parts of the book that were mentioned included those on contraception (in the US contraception did not become legal for married women until 1965!!!), cutting, education and it's significance for girls, as well as the values passed on by Bill Gates' mother. Mary recommended the Netflix documentary series, Inside Bill's Mind commenting that it was a good companion to this book. Each of the three segments is about 45 minutes long. I have since watched it, and I totally agree. It's an amazing picture of how his mind works. WOW! If ever there were 2 people who were meant for each other - it's Bill and Melinda. If you are feeling the need for some inspiration or if our faith in doing good needs to be reinforced - watch the series and read the book. You will not be disappointed.

     Five of us, Annie, Joan, Linda, Maddy, and myself, met to discuss Lisa See's The Island of Sea Women, also known as the island of wind, stones, and women.  This is a historical novel based on the true history of Chejudo, Korea.  Apparently Lisa See spent six years doing research for this book which gave her a wealth of material for her story.
     We were all impressed by the divers' physical prowess and dedication to providing for their families despite the bitter cold and dangerous environment of their work.  It was pointed out by the group that, as in many parts of the world, women did much of the work but had little education or political power compared to men.  In this book it was surprising to read that men helped by caring for the small children and doing the cooking while the women both dove for an income and did the farming.  The deep bonds that they formed in their collectives clearly provided emotional support and helped keep them safe in the water.  The book made clear the very real risks the divers took and unfortunately how injuries and drownings did occur.
     The other aspect of the book that all agreed to have been surprising was the brutal, tragic history of the islanders after World War II and the partitioning of Korea.  The book graphically illustrates how the South Korean military, police, and vigilante groups massacred villagers and destroyed villages in the name of rooting out communism.  Women and children were tortured and killed due to guilt by association.  All the while Americans were the "administrators" of the island and ignored the unfolding tragedy.  It seems that the islanders, mainly men, were protesting partition and their being excluded from political decision making.  They and their families and neighbors were sought and exterminated.  Interestingly, when I was a Peace Corps volunteer on Chejudo in the 60's, I never heard a word about this history.  Apparently it was illegal to mention it even within families.  Only recently the South Korean government has begun investigating these events, unearthing mass graves, and establishing a Peace Park on the island.  Koreans from the mainland are coming to Chejudo to learn more about this dark part of their history.
     Some in the group did feel that the length of the book was excessive.  Many felt that her skipping back and forth in time became confusing.  Some felt that the book was rather formulaic, that the author tends to write about relationships among women and weave in regional history.  This particular group of women and their history, however, seem quite unique to me.  All agreed that this was a heavy book, full of hardship and few happy moments.  I suspect that life was like that for those women.
     Some were puzzled that a woman like Mi Ja could watch a child be brutally murdered and not speak up to save him.  Also I was puzzled by how Young Sook refused any contact with her daughter or grandchild after the daughter married Mi Ja's son.  Young Sook held such deep resentment and anger for her friend's betrayal and refused to forgive her.  We can so easily judge behaviors like these, but we discussed how inappropriate it is to pass judgement on a person from another culture.
     The group discussed the Shamanic tradition that was so fundamental to the Cheju culture.  The government tried to eliminate the Shamanic practices, but the islanders have held onto that culture.  We also discussed the lovely practice of making rubbings as keepsakes at significant events.
     The ending seemed somewhat abrupt to some in the group and also a bit puzzling.  It is unclear whether Young Sook finally did forgive her daughter and Mi Ja or not.  The author left it up to the reader to decide.  In the end the group found the book to be a stimulating read.  

An Afternoon with Mary Oliver

AN AFTERNOON WITH MARY OLIVER

August 27, 2019

Five of us

Sit in the August afternoon

at a table, adorned with a vase

of white zinnia,

purple Russian sage,

magenta coneflower,

orange marigold,

yellow coreopsis.

Our books of poetry,

stacked like place settings,

rest on the faded block print tablecloth.

It's Mary Oliver day!

We have come to investigate,

to mine, her wisdom,

her sensitivities.

As we sip

passionfruit and lemonaide

from glasses

heaped with cubes

of ice,

our faces brighten.

Libby reads first.

Singapore.

We can see clearly

the blue of the rag,

the metal of the ashtrays.

…I doubt for a moment that she loves her life.

And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop

And fly down to the river.

This probably won’t happen

But maybe it will.

If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?

Of course, it isn’t.

Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only

The light that can shine out of life. I mean

the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,

The way her smile was only for my sake; I mean

the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds.

Conversation

sure and even

begins.

Her poetry,

not all pretty,

we decide.

But,

It’s true and real.

What’s the difference?

After more words

From ourselves,

a pause hovers.

Joanie

takes a breath,

and reads,

The Country of the Trees

…And there will always be room for the weak, the violets

and the bloodroot.

When it is cold they will be given blankets of leaves.

When it is hot they will be given shade.

And not out of guilt, neither for a year-end deduction

but maybe for the cheer of their colors, their

small flower faces.

And none will ever speak a single word of complaint,

as though language, after all,

did not work well enough, was only an early stage.

Neither do they ever have any questions to the gods—

which one is the real one, and what is the plan.

As though they have been told everything already,

and are content.

Thoughts, impressions, feelings

rise and fall.

In many words

We say

what a powerful,

clear message

she sent

with such

gentle beauty.

Annie reads

The Fish

...and died in slow pouring off

of rainbows. Later

I opened his body and separated

the flesh from the bones

and I ate him. Now the sea

is in me: I am the fish, the fish

glitters in me, we are

risen, tangled together, certain to fall,

back to the sea. Out of pain,

and pain, and more pain

we feed this feverish plot, we are nourished

by the mystery.

A brief silence

makes room

for us to

digest the words.

We speak in a bell curve,

starting slowly,

building in the middle,

quieting at the end.

After the quiet,

Saran speaks

by reading.

Don’t Hesitate

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,

Don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty

Of lives, and whole towns destroyed or about

to be. We are not wise, and not very often

kind. And much can never be redeemed.

….Joy is not made to be a crumb.

So true,

so simple,

so difficult,

we sigh.

Only the leaves

hanging 

low above our heads

seem to move.

I take my turn

and recite.

Sunrise

….And I thought

I am so many!

What is my name?

What is the name of the deep

breath I would take over and over

for all of us.

You can call it whatever you want,

it is happiness;.

Another one of the ways to enter fire.

What does she mean

to enter fire. And I think,

What are we

missing? But each of us 

knows.

We read more

and more.

Mary Oliver

reveals herself

to us

over and over.

We linger,

In the warmth

of the afternoon sun.

A door has been opened for us.

A vastness revealed,

discovered,

amongst friends.

It seems

we don’t want

to leave this space.

OUR TOWNS by James and Deborah Fallows

On June 25th, Nine of us met at Mary's home to talk about the book "Our Towns", Annie, Saran, Marylib, Sheri, Margie, Linda, Paige and Libby. 

This was the story of a journey and of an America that seems to work.  Since 2013, the Fallows, who are a married couple, have traveled to small communities in every part of the country that have faced economic shocks, political crises, or other serious hardships.  Each place they went, they talked with teachers, business creators, mayors, religious leaders, students, artists and architects, librarians, and others involved in shaping their community's future.  As they traveled across the country, at low altitude in a little propeller airplane, they saw patterns of river and hill that explain the pattern of American settlement.  On the ground, they saw the emerging pattern of American reinvention, and those are reflected in each story in the book, sometimes so very different.

For the most part everyone in attendance liked the book, though there were various declarations of how much was read by each person.  Most people jumped around reading different towns not in sequence.  Annie and others felt each place made them think of other towns not included in the book.  We all felt that the power of small communities is strong.  Sheri said that immigrants are so very important to talk about, and Maddy felt that maybe a lot was white washed and left out.  Saran wondered at the rationales for choosing what towns to visit, and that there were so many left out.  Libby enjoyed the flyover sections as those descriptions gave her the sense of how the landscape shapes certain communities.  Annie said that innovation and change was so very important.  Libby noted that there had to be a catalyst or planner that was forward thinking in each town.  It was also noted that the more national politics was discussed, the worse shape the town was in, that there was much division in the community.  For small towns to thrive, people have to get along.

"Across the country in smaller towns outside the media spotlight, a new American is being built - one that is innovative, compromise minded, optimistic, and working toward practical solutions to the problems of this age."  Small towns will be America's future. 

EDUCATED, by Tara Westover

On this cool spring day, eight of us convened at Maddy’s home, to discuss this gripping memoir of a life in a remote section of Idaho, in the shadow of a beloved mountain. Tara and her 5 siblings grew up in a fundamentalist Mormon/survivalist culture. Both parents, especially the father, were deeply troubled and mentally ill. The younger siblings had no birth records. The children did not attend school, and were put to work at a young age to help with various hard labor tasks around their remote acreage, including dangerous work in the family scrap yard. Their father was volatile, brittle, and emotionally abusive. The family relied on the mother's ability to produce a herbal tincture or ointment or tea to address various medical issues, including severe head injuries, burns and wounds from being impaled by scrap metal.
It seemed that everyone liked the book, or rather, found it to be compelling and readable. Joan thought it was very distressing, and was only inclined to continue because she knew that Tara was a survivor.
Maddy talked about how our lives in regards to our family, environment, upbringing, era, may have formed us.  Perhaps how we respond to our experiences shapes our outlook toward our lives and the future. Tara was influenced by a stable older brother who left "the mountain" when he was a young man to go to college. She also took solace in the classical/choral music he introduced her to. She was smart and resilient and motivated to move on and had the benefit of an encouraging  grandmother and  a few teachers that saw she had great potential.
Tara told the story with remarkable clarity and a lack of judgment. She walked us through a  harrowing life, but was able to reveal an inner strength and resilience that was really the core of this fascinating narrative.

SILK
Alessandro Baricco

Heraclitus: “No man ever steps in the same river twice; for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man.”

Paige, Joan, Libby, Maddy, Sheri, Mary Lib, Margie, and Saran met on 30 April at 644 Peterson for a very lively and revealing discussion of Alessandro Baricco’s Silk.

Baricco is Italy's most famous contemporary writer. He studied philosophy, earned a diploma in piano at university, and has written several prize-winning books. Critics have commented that it is no surprise Baricco was trained as a musicologist, given the lyrical nature of much of his writing.

We all described Silk as sparse, poetic, sensual, and enigmatic. It tells a complete story of the life of Hervé Joncour while providing very few details. Barrico’s spare language, the use of repeated verse, realization of the formless self, and the motifs of silk, light, silence, and parables on the theme of love, are all combined masterfully. Silk leaves the reader with a lasting impression of lightness. Like our lives, Silk is an experience more than a story. Baricco links a feature of Japanese literature, namely that which is not spoken, with the image of the ever-present return of what is the same, a "repetition of the past.” We were all bewitched but also haunted by Baricco’s spare language, which challenged our need to fill in details and our search for concrete answers. We agreed that the resulting mystery, veils, and the unsaid were often far more important than many of the details Baricco provided.

We noted several repeating themes; each seductive while providing continuity: Joncour’s predilection to witness his own life; the prominence of water and of life falling like rain before his eyes; Hervé’s repeated route to Japan that included Lake Baikal, which intriguingly assumed a different local name at each visit; the idea of life as an inexplicable spectacle of light; Zen themes of emptiness, non-duality, quiet, stillness, acceptance of ones’ life situation; and the repeated use of grammar and gaps in time and space that led us, the readers, to interpret Hervé’s life differently.

We differed in our interpretations of the multiple mysteries in the book.  Did the young woman without Oriental eyes exist? Maddy and Libby were convinced that she did not, that she was Hervé’s dream reflecting his longing for Hélène, whom he could not love in person. Others of us considered her very real, the source of Hervé’s yearning for something he would never experience. Who wrote the letter(s) to Hervé? Many of us thought that the few details Baricco provided suggested that it was the woman from Japan who wrote the letter; others were convinced it was Hélène. As Paige said, the veil of silk was again thrown over our eyes. What was Hervé’s relationship with Hélène? Was it as easy as it seemed? “To love each other was an easy fate.” Or was it unfulfilled, leading Joncour to live the rest of his life filled with remorse? What was the significance of the small blue flowers, given by Madame Blanche to her suitors but ultimately left on Hélène’s grave? And who was Baldabiou, whose actions and conversations were eclectic?

Several of us felt compelled to write about Silk in an attempt to understand it better. Paige drew a compelling analogy between silk fiber and the book: Silk, the woven thread, so fine that holding it between the fingers is like nothingness. A veil of silk thin, translucent like the wisp of a cloud concealing the fullness of light.  Silk, the book, sensuous in color and movement like the blue wings of birds erasing the sky as they fly. Silk, the book, a veil through which our sight is made misty and unsure of what it sees. The author with his sparse words and ambiguous sentences keeps us behind a veil unable to see clearly. He weaves a fine, tight fabric of a novel as delicate and strong as its subject.  For Libby, Hervé was a man who had never really lived his own life, and didn’t know how to do so. He was, as the author said, “one of those men who like to be observers at their own lives, any ambition to actually participate in them being considered inappropriate.” Late in the book, Hervé “did a thing he had never done before”, he actually made a decision for himself and decided to go back to Japan during war when it was not safe. This experience changed him in that he was awakened to life, his life, was almost killed, almost did not return alive to Hélène.  Libby wondered if all of Hervé’s journeys had actually happened or if they were all a dream of a life that he couldn’t actually live properly. He was, for Libby, filled with remorse throughout.

Joan found, in several of her favorite sentences and excerpts, poetic form. A few examples are:
He was one of those men who
like to witness their own life
considering any ambition
to live it, inappropriate.

Helene was a tall woman
she moved slowly, had long black hair,
she had a beautiful voice.
"you mustn't be afraid of anything" He said

Hara Kei sat cross-legged on the floor.
The only visible sign of his power
was a woman lying beside him
unmoving, her head resting in his lap.

Maddy wrote of the Zen themes throughout the book, as did Paige.  Barrico’s spare language, the distinctive gap-filled grammar, and the realization of the formless self all fuse together the practice of Zen -the awakening to the Self that has no form, and to some extent, the religion of Shintoism. Both are ways of apprehending the world as an undifferentiated continuum, and such a practice can be described as “a tendency to find the fullness of being in the immediate flow of an aesthetic moment.” An ideal example is Joncour’s approach to the house of Hara Kei: “on the paper walls shadows appeared without a sound. It did not seem like life: If there were a name for all that, it was: theater.” Hervé may have experienced an ineffable moment, a moment full of formlessness and emptiness in his trips to his local lake.

Is this a fairy tale made of recurrent phrases and motifs? Was Joncour caught in a labyrinth of imagination and longing?  We left a lengthy and spirited discussion unsure.

INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH

There were eight of us on Thursday March 26th at Libby's house for the discussion of this multifaceted book:  Margie, Saran, Marylib, Paige, Annie, Joan, and Sheri.  On the surface it was an adventurous odyssey, yet came off as a funny, light book which confused some readers because essentially it was a book about lives torn apart by the border between the US and Mexico.  The small Sinaloan coastal village of Tres Camerones had experienced what many small Mexican villages do: all the men of working age left for the "north", Los Yunaitas.  The young women left behind were determined to travel across the border and bring back at least seven men to their village, to defend it from banditos.  The traveling characters were at once cartoonish and substantive, young women, the leader Nayeli, and her good dependable friend Tacho who was gay, and two other young girls from the village.  They headed north leaving behind Aunt Irma the mayor of the village and the older men.

We all agreed that the author Urrea was certainly an atmospheric writer, but some felt the tone was confusing and who really was it about or was it just a slice of life?  Some felt that it was a fun book and never took it seriously but others felt that the seriousness of the issue of the border and what we know lately about wanting a wall gave the book some tension.  Behind the fun there was an awareness of the desperation of the people who want to better their lives.  There were a couple in the group who enjoyed the cross USA drive, going by town after town and state after state, for Nayeli to find her father in Kankakee Illinois, a town that actually one of us knew welcomes immigrants.  The fact that Nayeli does not actually make contact with her father makes her quest seem to be a quest of fantasy and dreams that is shared by so many immigrants, of expectations of life in the US which may not happen or be realistic.  And in the end the characters are dreaming of what they left at home, the taco shop, the village, even Atomico, the Tijuana ruffian who is a super hero that comes to help the little group from Tres Camerones, has nostalgia for his abode near the garbage in Tijuana.

Libby had just gotten back from DC and had sat next to a man on the plane who was going to give a speech to the Inter American Development Bank on the fact that in about 2005 to 2008 there was a housing boom in the US and many villages in Mexico emptied of their men going north to work construction.  Then when the crash came in 2008 to 2009, there was an exodus back to the villages with various positive and negative outcomes.  What a coincidence! I did so want to talk with him more but the plane was landing and off he went.  Getting back late from the airport, I stopped at una tienda Mexicana and got these treats for the group!

It was a good discussion about a book that had both realistic and fantastic parts to it.

 Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi

Libby, Linda, Paige, Maddy, Margie, and Joan met at Mary Lib’s house on February 26 to share opinions, perspectives, and new insights about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Americanah. 

True confession here: I simply forgot to take notes, which means I’ll be unable to clearly convey thoughts expressed by specific individuals that day. Instead, I’ll summarize based on my unreliable memory. 

Adichie said in an interview that this book was about love. She called it an old-fashioned love story. She also said it was about race and how we reinvent ourselves. While I’m not sure we would have primarily identified the book as an old fashioned love story, it was fun to explore her perspective.

Exploring the theme of love, yes, we watched Ifemelu learn about love as she moved into and through young adulthood. We felt overall that her relationship with Obinze set a high bar for what she expected from a long-term relationship.  Her understanding of relationships and her own needs mature during her time with Curt, her time alone, and her time with Blaine. But ultimately, the draw of the deep, emotional bond she shared with Obinze draws her back to him. 

The discussion about relationships, though, led us to talk about Aunty Uju and Obinze, who chose relationships based more on survival than on love. No one really cast judgment on these decisions; instead, we recognized that circumstances lead people to make decisions that none of us would choose to have to make.

Adichie’s exploration of racism in America from the perspective of a non-American black person was perhaps the most stimulating concept found in this book. As she identified actions and language by whites towards blacks that she considered to somewhat clueless and shallow, many of us realized we could have said some of the same things that resembled her examples. No one really criticized her for being overly sensitive; instead, we all felt she brought some important perspectives to our understanding of this complicated issue.

The theme of reinventing herself was a fascinating one.  We talked about lessons learned when we leave the comfort of our own homes. When that departure is amplified by leaving not only one’s home but also one’s country and culture, the lessons of course intensify. Ifemelu gained a deep-seated appreciation of Nigeria from her time away. She returned with eyes wide open about strengths and weaknesses within her country, appreciating the comfort of the deep-seated familiarity of people, places, and norms.

Yes, we talked about hair! This fascinating and complicated topic is currently in the news, so the relevance of hair was heightened.  We felt dismay when confronted with the realities of hair straightening. The pain, the damage to skin and health…

Most of us agreed that we were glad we had read this well-written book because it was thought-provoking and enlightening.

Mary Lib

ASTORIA by Peter Stark

Our group's final selection for 2018 was "ASTORIA: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire", by Peter Stark (2015).  As the author states on the cover, it is a "tale of ambition and survival on the Early American Frontier".  We, the readers, agreed it offered elements of an extreme adventure story, thus tweaking our interest during a multi layered historical account.

Pertinent background information:
About 1808 and close towards the end of Thomas Jefferson's presidency, he and John Jacob Astor, a successful German-American businessman, enacted their ambitions to establish a thriving port settlement, Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River and the entrance to the Pacific Ocean (the area later to become known as the state of Oregon).  Jefferson and Astor believed this location would further America's interests in western land exploration while expanding our international trade pursuits for fur and other luxury items.  Astoria's location could also impede Russia's land grabbing endeavors.

The story's essence:
The author describes treacherous accounts of two groups dispatched with the ultimate goal to reach the western site: one going by sea - around the southern tip of South America, and one going by land - through the middle of the continent and the Rocky Mountains.  Stark's narrative captures the human aspects of these horrendous undertakings, as well as providing supportive information of this period of American History - the natural world and exploration achievements and outcomes.  Mercifully, historical photos, maps, a cast of characters, reference sources, and an essential epilogue are included in the book.  Several of us expressed dismay that, while we are familiar with Lewis and Clark's expeditions, we did not know much of this significant episode in our country's history.  To our knowledge, the only other account of this time and event in American history is the 1936 story of Astoria, written by Washington Irving.

Author's writing style:
As in other book discussions, we commented on the author's writing style.  Stark is an accomplished journalist.  For a couple of readers, the approach was helpful, due to the amount of content in this particular story.  Other readers found this approach unnecessary, perhaps even a distraction.

In summary, we were pleased to read such a dynamic and action-filled story, allowing for lively discussion, comments, and sharing.

This longtime monthly book group is now ready for new and exciting reads in 2019!

Written by Linda Hamilton