That Vase of Lilacs (by Kay Ryan) - video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BwjcLSE2zE
U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan reads "That Vase of Lilacs" during the Cleveland Public Library's Writers & Readers Series at the Louis Stokes Wing auditorium on Sunday 18 April 2010 in Cleveland, Ohio — amateur video by John Burroughs, a.k.a. Jesus Crisis, posted for educational purposes only. "That Vase of Lilacs" comes from Kay Ryan's 2010 book The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (published by Grove Press).
For a schedule of upcoming Writers & Readers events hosted by the Cleveland Public Library, please visit http://writersandreaders.cpl.org.





Liked the thought she conveys here so subtly in this poem... almost an ancient concept to us now... Akin to the idea that the "ancestors" still live among us and can interact with us, live through us. Not sure I'm conveying well what I want to say.. but that the connections between people and things in life are so thin... it comes thru in small moments that are experienced in life that are hard to put into words.
When my Dad died... I was the only one with him when he passed. I've never been with someone when they died before.. it was my first experience and something I was afraid of actually. .. but I'm not anymore. Because
I felt him as he passed... holding his hand.. one moment he was there another he wasn't.. but also then realizing nothing really had changed. Just a small movement into a place I couldn't follow.... it leaves you with the same feeling she conveys so well in that poem.
Anyway.. I can imagine what she shared whether it was a real moment or an imagined one.... because there is a layer of truth there.
anyway...it seemed to have stuck a chord with me this morning with how I'm feeling and things that are going on...
I'm glad you've posted these.
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Intriguing... maybe they do live through us.
I may post more Kay in the future.
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Listened, loved and commented on YT. x
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Cool! Thank you!
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