poetry to my ears

Today was to be devoted to personal pursuits and so far my day's gone the way of the not-so-personal, but spent in lengthy pursuit.

Earlier I caught the last few minutes of Morning Edition on NPR (National Public Radio), just in time for a brief segment by Garrison Keillor. I'd stumbled upon it about a month ago and loved being treated to a poem that I'd never come across otherwise. Poetry has never come easily to me, but I've been scribbling titles and text whenever something strikes my fancy, and he has found some winners. Today I couldn't make out the author's name but was compelled by her words so came to the internet. At least forty-five minutes later I'd finally discovered the home page for what turns out to be "The Writer's Almanac" featuring Keillor.

The page held everything I'd been hastily transcribing all this time! Today's featured notable birthdays and truly notable quotes from each person. For instance, Diane Ackerman who said, ' "I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." ' (I just changed what I found on-site: "wits" instead of "width" which I cannot imagine she said. Perhaps I'm humorless and unimaginative, a meddling editor or a good proofreader... Aha, found it here.) Anyway, isn't it just wonderful?

But what set me off on my extended search was the following, read by Keillor today, that I want to share with you. Since I don't have permission to reprint it here, I'll just offer the first few lines to entice you to visit "The Writer's Almanac", October 7, 2005, to read it in full.

"Instructions" by Sheri Hostetler, from the anthology A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry

Instructions

Give up the world; give up self; finally, give up God.
Find god in rhododendrons and rocks,
passers-by, your cat.
Pare your beliefs, your absolutes.
Make it simple; make it clean.
No carry-on luggage allowed.
Examine all you have
with a loving and critical eye, then
throw away some more...

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It's what I've been hearing in recent conversations, and what has been driving me for the past few months: getting down to what really matters. She says it so eloquently.