In response to my recent post The Power of Poetry, a reader asked me to share some of my own poems. Here are two, both of which were written as assignments for the Coursera Sharpened Visions workshop class I took last year. I hope you enjoy them. Read more
“You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.”
—David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
While searching for Monday’s Quote of the Week, I found myself traveling down a rabbit hole of poetry about autumn. I don’t often take the time to read and contemplate poems at length, but when I do, I’m rarely disappointed. There’s something about a poem that can communicate a feeling so profoundly. Free from prose’s need to explain everything in complete sentences, poetry can make its point through images and metaphors, playing with rhythm and structure in ways that make the reader appreciate language like never before. A great poem has the power to make me feel connected to its author through universal human experience, conveyed with just the right words.
COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD is an umbrella term that encompasses both emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It’s the disease that led to my father’s death this summer and that made him struggle to breathe for years. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 135,000 Americans each year. More than 15 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, and many more are likely unaware that they have the disease.
“No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring.”
—Samuel Johnson
