Discussion Board

The prompts will be posted as follows:

1.How did the two poems impact you? What feelings do they invoke?

2.What do you think the poets met to impart on people with regard to leave-taking, grief, and adversity?

3. How do you see these poems relating to existential givens? List some examples of verses that stand out to you.

This week's discussion board is tied to poetry focused on the theme of leave-taking:

Read the series of poems below:

Louise Bougan, Leave-Taking

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/15668/leave-taking

Lisa Masé, Hurricane Irene

Moats, M. et al. (eds) (2019) A Walk with Nature: Poetic Encounters that Nourish the Soul. Available below

Roses and Potatoes on the table, sprouting blooms and tendrils:

these were gifts left behind

one late summer day when holy waters swept away 

every inch of your land,

from farmhouse to topsoil,

all drowned and strewn

across fields in another country.

That was your last work

with the earth, trowel

and long fingers digging,

tiny thorns, impossible

to avoid.

None one can know where they met their end.

The petals were prayers 

on furious waters

and the tubers bobbed

in the swells.