25 October 2023

Ode to the Mundane

 

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Ode to the Mundane

 

As I write the prompt today I am reminded of Pablo Neruda’s poem Ode to Tomatoes. How delightfully he makes the ordinary extraordinary by expressing his deep passion for the world’s simplest wonders—as simple as tomatoes or onion or even a large tuna.

Thomas Hood raises the mundane drudgery of the work-life of a seamstress in The Song of the Shirt to a majestic level or think of the two line poem of Ezra Pound In a Station of the Metro where he captures the meeting point between the sublime and the mundane:                 

 The apparition of these faces in the crowd:

Petals on a wet, black bough.

Wendy Cope’s The Orange is another poem of everyday life where the focus is on speaker’s ordinary day at work and how everything is sweetened, made joyful by being in love.

                                 

                                    💚💚💚💚💚

 

So today we ask you to find beauty in the mundane. Explore vibrant life, glory in the mundane moment or object. Appreciate it for what it is.

We never forget that we are part of something vast and meaningful.

One more poem to inspire:

Wild Geese

 By Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.


Please link one poem that is your response to the material of this prompt. When you link your poem please visit other links in the spirit of the community.

 

      



21 comments:

  1. Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday! Enjoy poetry. Read and share.

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  2. Thanks, Sumana, for this wonderful prompt, that reminds us that beauty is all around us always, no matter what else is going on in the world. It is good to remember that.

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    1. Yes, Sherry and your beautiful poem reminds us that as well.

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  3. These days I look upon the mundane as a blessing. Fine prompt, Sumana!

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    1. So true, Mary. There's nothing like an ordinary, simple life. A blessing indeed.

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  4. Luscious topic. I may revise for images, but I loved honoring something simple and everyday.

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    1. Your poem was a delight to read Susan. It was a beautiful ode to the ordinary.

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  5. Hi Annell for some reason I cannot get into your site.. Will try again later.

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  6. This is a true story. My "guest" is still sleeping in her tree.

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    1. Can't leave a comment on your blog....it is an escaped wombat that has been demolishing the foundations of my house along with its friend the termites....Sorry Ollie !.....Rall

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  7. Thanks Sherry I’m sorry if I can’t get back to comments. Rough times - jae

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  8. Great prompt...I have been banging on about there being no such thing as the mundane...only mundane people for years now....Rall

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  9. Hello poets! So good to be here after ages. Shall surely come back to read the poems soon. Thanks.

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    1. Panchali, I think this is YOUR comment. I am thrilled to be able to read your poetry again. It has been a while! Smiles!

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    2. How wonderful to see you here Panchali di! Thank you for joining us.

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  10. Looks like someone took down my link for my Gratitude piece that I wrote for the prompt two weeks ago. I had just learned of your site and had written the piece but didn’t get it posted on time. Sorry if this somehow upset someone.

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    1. Hi Rob, no one is upset. I just read your poem on your site. It is beautiful. Gratitude is what I hang onto these days, with everything so terrible all over the world. We're happy to see you linking at What's Going On? Glad you found us.

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    2. Rob, the link was taken down as we request just one poem per linker for each prompt. Smiles.

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