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The Monday Poem (old)
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"Meditation on a Grapefruit" by Craig Arnold--November 21, 2016
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Craig Arnold earned a BA in English from Yale and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Utah. He published 2 books of poems, Shells in 1999 and Made Flesh in 2008. He was researching volcanoes on Kuchinoerabujima Island in Japan in 2009 when he disappeared while hiking.
Love the title, Terri! Now to read this poem!
Makes me want to read his other work, Terri. Thank you.
Terri, happy belated birthday!!I really like this poem, as it shows how that the smallest thing, the most mundane action holds an incredible beauty if one pays attention, how it offers a chance to feel one's pulse, to feel alive, as all senses take it in.
It reminds me of the challenge of actually being where you are, as in: being present for the moment rather than constantly combing through either the past or the future with our thoughts. For me personally that's an equally large desire as it is a seemingly impossible challenge. And in thinking about that I (think I) start to understand the last few lines which originally puzzled me a little. Any other interpretations on that end?
Thanks, Jenny! I love your analysis. :)
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Shells (other topics)Made Flesh (other topics)
By Craig Arnold
To wake when all is possible
before the agitations of the day
have gripped you
To come to the kitchen
and peel a little basketball
for breakfast
To tear the husk
like cotton padding a cloud of oil
misting out of its pinprick pores
clean and sharp as pepper
To ease
each pale pink section out of its case
so carefully without breaking
a single pearly cell
To slide each piece
into a cold blue china bowl
the juice pooling until the whole
fruit is divided from its skin
and only then to eat
so sweet
a discipline
precisely pointless a devout
involvement of the hands and senses
a pause a little emptiness
each year harder to live within
each year harder to live without