Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Poems: Our Daily Bread | Episode #516

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Poems: Our Daily Bread | Episode #516 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make Your
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Life Count. I'm your host, Dr. Gloria, Gloria Burgess, passionate,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: inspirational speaker, author, poet, and entrepreneur. Good morning and welcome
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: to Legacy Living, Make Your Life Count. Life is very short.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: It's short, sweet, and very, very precious. So, I hope
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: you're making a difference in your own life because when
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: you do, you also make a difference in someone else's life. Now,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: a lot of folks want to make their life count
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: for something, don't they? And they ask me, Dr. Gloria,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: how do you do that? Well, it's very simple, really simple.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: You make your life count day by day step by step,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: moment by moment, every single day, 365, 24-7. That's what
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Legacy Living Make Your Life Count is all about. Now,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: you can learn more about Legacy Living Make Your Life
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Count by visiting the Gloria Burgess website. That's gloriaburgess.com. the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess website. Again, that's G-L-O-R-I-A-B-U-R-G-E-S-S.com or by visiting Facebook. Facebook.com
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: forward slash D-R for doctor, D-R-G-L-O-R-I-A-B-U-R-G-E-S-S-P-H-D forward slash. Okay, I
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  Speaker 1: have a very special show for you today. Today's podcast
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: is a celebration of poetry. Now here in the United States,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: we celebrate poetry all month long during the month of April,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: which is quite wonderful for poets and for the rest
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  Speaker 1: of us. But you know me, I love to celebrate
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  Speaker 1: poetry anytime, anywhere, anywhere. and with anyone, including you. So today,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: that's exactly what we'll do. Celebrate. We will celebrate poetry. Now,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: you've heard me say this before. I love language. I
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: love the music of it, the melody and rhythm and
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  Speaker 1: cadence of words. I also love language because words are
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  Speaker 1: so full of power and and wonder, and awe, and mystery.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Words are full of presences, the presences of space, and time,
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  Speaker 1: and people, and places, the presences of smells, and tastes,
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  Speaker 1: and touch, and memory. Words can be magical, mystical. Words
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  Speaker 1: can bless, or blaspheme. Words can be a healing balm
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  Speaker 1: or hurt like the sting of cold ice pelting against
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  Speaker 1: your skin. In fact, words really do have vitality, right,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: and soul. Words can make a difference. When we're distressed, depressed,
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  Speaker 1: when we despair, Now how can that be? Because words
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  Speaker 1: can offer light. Light. Lucidity. Illumination. And they can also
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  Speaker 1: bring a certain kind of loveliness into our world. So
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  Speaker 1: let's talk about light. The focus of today's show is
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  Speaker 1: is all about poetry and light. Now, I've been a
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: poet for a long, long time. In fact, I've written
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: several books of poems, and my poems are published in
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: a number of anthologies. Over the years, I've developed a
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: deep appreciation for poetry, and I now know that poems
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: can be a resource for people in any setting, any
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  Speaker 1: context where people are. And that would be just about everywhere, right?
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  Speaker 1: So these days, I share poetry in schools, in healthcare settings,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: in church, in corporate settings, in IT. I share poems
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  Speaker 1: with government officials, with first responders like firefighters and police
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  Speaker 1: officers and EMTs. I share poems with financial analysts, social workers.
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  Speaker 1: with families and children in foster care, and with other artists.
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  Speaker 1: The power of poetry to renew, restore, revive, rejuvenate, to inspire,
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  Speaker 1: and to help people imagine new possibilities. You know what?
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  Speaker 1: The power of poetry is positively amazing. So again... What
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  Speaker 1: I'll share today is all about poetry and light. In
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  Speaker 1: many ways, the poems that I'll share today reflect and
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  Speaker 1: mirror the many threads of my life and work. In fact,
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: you've heard me talk about many of these threads and
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: themes right here on this show. The themes of gratitude, faith, love, creativity, imagination, integrity, hope,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: and possibility. Before we dive into the podcast, I want
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: to take just a moment to welcome you. If you're
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: just joining us, I'm your host, Dr. Gloria, and this
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  Speaker 1: is Legacy Living Make Your Life Count. I'd like to
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: extend a special welcome to those of you who are
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: joining my podcast or if you're joining Talk Network Radio
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: for the very first time. I'm so excited to have
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: you listening in today, and I'm deeply honored that you've
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: allowed me to be part of your day so you
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: can be inspired by ideas and resources to make your
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  Speaker 1: life count. Today's program is all about poetry and light,
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  Speaker 1: and this is an invitation, an invitation to you to
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  Speaker 1: just slow down. to be still for the next half
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  Speaker 1: hour or so at least, right? This is an invitation
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  Speaker 1: to you to be attentive, to tune into and simply
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  Speaker 1: revel and rejoice in the music of your soul. You
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  Speaker 1: are in for a very special treat. Poetry invites us
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  Speaker 1: To pay attention. And to pay attention, we need to
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  Speaker 1: slow down. Now, you don't want to miss a single
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  Speaker 1: word of this podcast. So, I'm going to invite you
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  Speaker 1: to grab your earbuds, find yourself a comfortable sofa or
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: chair to relax in. Make sure you have a nice
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  Speaker 1: cool glass of water next to you or a cup
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: of wonderful tea or coffee. We're gonna have a great time.
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  Speaker 1: Now notice today I didn't say grab your walking shoes. Right? Okay,
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  Speaker 1: this is all about chilling, all about slowing down. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: let's walk into the wondrous light of poetry. The first
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  Speaker 1: poem today is a beautiful one by Langston Hughes, one
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  Speaker 1: of my favorite poets. This poem is called Mother to Son.
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  Speaker 1: Mother to Son. Well, son, I'll tell you. Life for
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  Speaker 1: me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in
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  Speaker 1: it and splinters and boards torn up and places with
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  Speaker 1: no carpet on the floor bare but all the time
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  Speaker 1: I've been climbing on and reaching landings and turning the
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  Speaker 1: corners and sometimes going in the dark where there ain't
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  Speaker 1: been no light So, boy, don't you turn back. Don't
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  Speaker 1: you set down on the steps because you find it's
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  Speaker 1: kind of hard. Don't you fall now. For I'm still going, honey.
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  Speaker 1: I'm still climbing. And life for me ain't been no
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  Speaker 1: crystal stare. I just love how Langston Hughes uses the
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  Speaker 1: image of crystal stare. When I see that crystal stare,
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  Speaker 1: I see the luminous beauty of light. Now, the poet
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: uses the notion of dark, the opposite of light. He
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: uses the dark so that The light of that crystal
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  Speaker 1: stair is emphasized. The light is heightened all the more.
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  Speaker 1: Estris Tucker, my friend and one of my mentors, talks
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: about this poem in this way. Estris says, my life
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  Speaker 1: is held by the love of a mother. who despite
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  Speaker 1: limited opportunities and deferred dreams, dared to believe, care, and
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  Speaker 1: act for the sake of her soul and the soul
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  Speaker 1: of her children and community. He goes on to say,
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  Speaker 1: the humble language of mother to son speaks to me
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  Speaker 1: in times of failure and disillusionment, as well as times
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  Speaker 1: of accomplishments and acceptance. As an organizer and facilitator, I
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: often find my best work happens when the meeting is over.
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  Speaker 1: I know that's right. In his work as an organizer
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: and facilitator, Estris once hosted a series of meetings of
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  Speaker 1: Central City-Fort Worth neighbors to share ideas and to improve
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  Speaker 1: their community. He says, the ground rules were simple. Be kind,
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  Speaker 1: listen well, and speak from the heart. We focused on
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  Speaker 1: two questions. The first question was, what kind of place
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  Speaker 1: do I dream? What kind of place do I dream
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  Speaker 1: of for those I love? And the second question was,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: what do I love doing? Great questions, right? After people
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  Speaker 1: read and reflected on their responses, which were posted on
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  Speaker 1: the wall, I invited them to speak. to speak about
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  Speaker 1: what they had felt inspired to do. A community garden.
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  Speaker 1: Voter registration rallies. Predatory lending protests. And the neighborhood association
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  Speaker 1: all grew from those simple conversations. I remember a young
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  Speaker 1: man saying, when people listened to me, I felt like
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  Speaker 1: I was somebody worth hearing. When people trusted me, I
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  Speaker 1: felt trustworthy. When you open your heart first and then
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  Speaker 1: open your eyes, you see people and places differently. We
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  Speaker 1: had many gifts. We just didn't see them. Seeing these
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  Speaker 1: people take action, I don't turn back, but dare to believe,
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  Speaker 1: to care, and to act just as my mother did,
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  Speaker 1: taking on life as she found it. I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: read once again that luminous poem, Mother to Son, by
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  Speaker 1: Langston Hughes. Well, son, I'll tell you. Life for me
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  Speaker 1: ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it
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  Speaker 1: and splinters and boards torn up and places with no
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  Speaker 1: carpet on the floor. Bare. But all the time I's
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  Speaker 1: been a climbing on and reaching landings and turning corners
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  Speaker 1: and sometimes going in the dark where there ain't been
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  Speaker 1: no light. So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you
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  Speaker 1: set down on the steps. Cause you find it's kinda hard.
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  Speaker 1: Don't you fall now. For I'm still going, honey. I'm
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  Speaker 1: still climbing. And life for me ain't been no crystal stare.
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  Speaker 1: You know what? When I think about this poem, I
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  Speaker 1: too think about my own mother. The journey she's had.
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  Speaker 1: The steps she had to climb into the light beyond being.
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  Speaker 1: Beyond being in the world of belonging to and being
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  Speaker 1: a sharecropper's daughter. I also think of my father. His
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  Speaker 1: life was certainly no crystal stair. Now, some of you
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  Speaker 1: have heard me share my father's story on this podcast,
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  Speaker 1: and maybe even in other settings. My father was the
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  Speaker 1: first person in his family to go to college, the
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  Speaker 1: first person in his family who dared to dream about
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  Speaker 1: such a thing as that. In fact, when he was
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  Speaker 1: just a little boy, four or five years old, he
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  Speaker 1: talked about two of his dreams. He wanted to live
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  Speaker 1: in a house with running water and to go to college. Now,
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  Speaker 1: in the 1930s, in the deep south of the United States,
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  Speaker 1: in rural Mississippi, these were big, bad, audacious dreams, especially
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  Speaker 1: for a little black boy. Talking about dreams like these
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  Speaker 1: could actually get you killed. But that didn't faze my father.
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  Speaker 1: He talked to anybody who would listen. Yes, he did.
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  Speaker 1: It didn't matter what you looked like, how old you were,
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  Speaker 1: what walk of life you came from. My father passionately
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  Speaker 1: talked about his dreams. As a young man, he worked
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  Speaker 1: as a janitor at the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss. Now,
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  Speaker 1: this was in the 1950s. So he could work there,
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  Speaker 1: but he couldn't attend college there. Why? Because Ole Miss
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  Speaker 1: was still segregated. This was before the Civil Rights Movement,
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  Speaker 1: which would be about a decade later. So my father
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  Speaker 1: is still talking about his dreams to anybody who would listen,
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  Speaker 1: the students, the professors, the staff, anybody, anybody who would listen, right? Well,
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  Speaker 1: one day, all of that would change. One of the
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  Speaker 1: administrators at Ole Miss heard about my dad and heard
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  Speaker 1: about his dream of going to college. That gentleman met
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  Speaker 1: my father and asked him about his dreams. He fell
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  Speaker 1: in love with my father. That gentleman was responsible for
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  Speaker 1: introducing my dad to the person who would change his life,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: who would change my family's life for all time. And
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: that person was Pulitzer Prize winning American author and Nobel laureate,
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  Speaker 1: William Faulkner. Now, when Faulkner met my father, he was
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: deeply touched by my dad's faith, passion, drive, determination, humility, gratitude,
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  Speaker 1: and leadership. Faulkner didn't see my father the way that
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  Speaker 1: many whites saw my dad. Now, in those days, my
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  Speaker 1: father was viewed as a black man who was way
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  Speaker 1: too big for his britches, so to speak. But Faulkner
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  Speaker 1: didn't see him that way. Instead, he saw my father
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  Speaker 1: the way that God saw him. He saw my father
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  Speaker 1: as a man with birthright dignity. He saw my father's
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  Speaker 1: humanity and divinity. He saw my father as a man
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  Speaker 1: filled with love, light, possibility, and generosity. And that's exactly
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  Speaker 1: how my father was. viewed himself. And that's how my
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  Speaker 1: father also viewed Faulkner as another human being, another man
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  Speaker 1: filled with love, light, possibility, and generosity of spirit. Now,
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  Speaker 1: Faulkner offered to pay for my father to attend college,
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  Speaker 1: to pay for his tuition, his room and board, his books,
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  Speaker 1: with no strings attached. Wow! Pretty amazing, right? Well, what
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  Speaker 1: would you do? I mean, what would you do? What
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: would you say if somebody offered you something like that?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, this was my dad's lifelong dream. What do
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  Speaker 1: you think he said? Well... He said, no. No, sir.
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  Speaker 1: I want to go to college more than anything, but
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: I can't accept your generous offer. You see, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know how I could ever pay you back. And Faulkner
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: looked at my dad with a twinkle in his eye
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  Speaker 1: and he said, I don't expect you to pay me back.
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  Speaker 1: You just pass this blessing on when you're able to
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  Speaker 1: do so. Mercy. Who knew? How many of you know
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  Speaker 1: that God looks out for his own? That fall, my
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  Speaker 1: father enrolled at Alcorn A & M College with my mom, me,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: and my two older sisters right by his side. So,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: my father's and my family's story. Not long ago, This
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: story came through in words and images. And this amazing
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: story that I just shared is now available as a
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: children's picture book, as a visual biography that is a
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: great book for people of all ages. Now, before the
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: picture book, before the visual biography, before the words and
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: images of a story book came through, God gave me
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: the same story. the same ark, but he gave it
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  Speaker 1: to me in words and images and light and in
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  Speaker 1: the form of a poem. And I want to share
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  Speaker 1: that poem with you now. So I shared the story
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: with you, so hopefully it will bring more light, more
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: light into the poem for you. The poem is called Sanctuary. Sanctuary.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: sanctuary for my father Ernest McEwen Jr. and William Faulkner
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: between the brush of angels wings and furious hooves of
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: hell two mortal men fell down How you must have looked.
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  Speaker 1: White shirt stained, khakis fatigued, smelling of sweat and smoke,
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  Speaker 1: hair at odds with itself and the world. At the
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: threshold among your restless dead, an echo and shadow of
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  Speaker 1: ancient oaks providing sanctuary. offering shade. You had many worlds
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: behind you, few yet to be born. Stories of insurgence, scorn, decay,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: theme and variations of a vanquished self. Leaning against a jam,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: of antebellum brass. You watched, waited, raised weary arm and hand,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: saluted the familiar stranger, come, come, enter, sit, sing. You
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: reached each other across the great what you too must
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: have known of heaven and hell. I can picture the
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: home where Faulkner lived And it's like a light as
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: you walk up this long red brick pathway. The house
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: is painted still white. And so in the pathway up
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  Speaker 1: to the house, you see this bright light of white
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: in the paint, in the house, in the presences that
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: guard the home. these ancient trees, these old trees lining
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: the walkway. So the poem talks about the old, ancient
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: qualities in the house, leaning against a jam, a door jam,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: leaning against a jam of antebellum brass. You watched, waited.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: raised weary arm and hand, saluted the familiar stranger. Come. Enter. Sit. Sing.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: You reached each other across the great. What you two
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: must have known of heaven and hell. So I'm going
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: to read this poem again in its entirety, and this
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: time I just want to invite you to listen, listen
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: keenly for the different qualities of light that appear in
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: the poem. You know, we start out with the brush
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: of angels' wings, which is a certain quality of light, right?
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: And then the furious hooves of hell, which brings on
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: another entirely different kind of quality of light, right? So listen, please.
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  Speaker 1: as you hear me again, as you hear this poem
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  Speaker 1: on my breath, listen for the different qualities of light
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  Speaker 1: and how they play into and off of one another. Sanctuary.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: For my father, Ernest McEwen Jr., and William Faulkner. Between
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: the brush of angels wings and furious hooves of hell
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: two mortal men fell down how you must have looked
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: white shirt stained khakis fatigued smelling of sweat and smoke
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: hair at odds with itself and the world. At the threshold,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: among your restless dead, in echo and shadow of ancient oaks,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: providing sanctuary, offering shade, you had many worlds behind you,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: few yet to be born. Stories of insurgence, scorn, decay, theme,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: and variations of a vanquished south. Leaning against a jam
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: of antebellum brass, you watched, waited, raised weary arm and hand,
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: saluted the familiar stranger, Come, enter, sit, sing. You reached
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: each other across the great. What you two must have
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: known of heaven and hell. Deciding. Deciding on who you
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: will invite to enter, sit, and sing. Deciding on who
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: you include or is a choice. Deciding who you stand
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: with and who you don't. Deciding who you see and
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: who you choose to ignore. All of these are choices.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: I love this quote by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. She says, People
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: the sun is out. But when the darkness sets in,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: their true beauty is revealed only if there is a
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: light from within. Now I love this quote, so I'm
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: going to repeat it. And the first time I had
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: to kind of stop to really get my head around it.
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  Speaker 1: So listen. Listen. People are like stained glass windows. They
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: sparkle and shine when the sun is out. But when
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: the darkness sets in, when the darkness sets in, and
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: the darkness could be hard times or social expectation or
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: anything else that wants to creep in and suck the
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: light right out of you, right? When the darkness sets in,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: Their true beauty is revealed only if there is a
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: light from within. And you know what? When there is
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: a light from within, it does not matter. Listen to me.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: It does not matter what people around you do. The
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: only thing that matters is who you are and whose
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: you are. Because when you know whose you are, who
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: you choose to be is very easy. It's very easy.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: And it will determine who you choose to be and
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: what you choose to do. All right. So I just
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: invite you to breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. And I have
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: another poem that I'd like to share with you. And
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: this next poem is all about artists and artistry. When
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: I saw the title, On Gathering Artists, I was immediately
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: drawn to it. Then I read the poem and I
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: was drawn in even further. As I just mentioned, this
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: poem is all about artists and artistry. and the light
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: we can bring into the world and illuminate the world
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: through our own creative genius. Now, you know that I
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: think that we're all artists. Some of us are artists
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  Speaker 1: with a big A, right? But we're all artists. So
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: this poem is a wonderfully luscious poem by Alberto Rios
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  Speaker 1: on gathering artists. It's totally new to me, and the
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: poet is actually new to me as well. So Rios
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  Speaker 1: was born in 1952. He lives in Arizona, and he
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: is the inaugural poet laureate of the state of Arizona.
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  Speaker 1: Early in his writing life, he received the Walt Whitman
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: Award for his collection of poems called Whispering to Fool
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: the Wind. Whispering to Fool the Wind. Rios has written many,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: many poems, and has authored a number of poetry collections,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: including a small story about the sky. He currently serves
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: as a chancellor of the prestigious Academy of American Poets.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: Here's his poem, On Gathering Artists. Rios begins this poem
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  Speaker 1: with an epigraph. Who does a job well and very well.
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  Speaker 1: These are the artists, those curious lights. We are cobblers
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  Speaker 1: of the song and barkers of the carnival word. We
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: are tailors of the light and framers of the earth.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: We fish among the elements and hunt the elusive green
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  Speaker 1: in gray and blue. We drink forbidden waters and eat
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  Speaker 1: an invisible food. In this time of electronic mail and
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: facsimile conversation, we send our voice, the poem, the bridge,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: the circuit, the cure, whose electricity is made from dreams,
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  Speaker 1: whose song is sung in the colors yet unnamed, drawn
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  Speaker 1: from the solitary etudes of the soul, and given up
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  Speaker 1: in tender to the world. How easy to spend a
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: day writing a poem. How hard to spend a life
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  Speaker 1: writing a thousand poem, a bridge, a story, a circuit, cures, laws, bowls,
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  Speaker 1: the warp and weave and waft of iron and paper
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  Speaker 1: and light and salt. We labor for a lifetime, but
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: take every day off. Who knows what to make of us?
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  Speaker 1: We are not the ribcage but the legs. We are
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: not the steering wheel but the headlamps. We gather happily
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  Speaker 1: if not often. We can't sit still. We hurry off.
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  Speaker 1: Goodbye to us Hello to us, a tip of the
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: hat to us as we go about the drumming of
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  Speaker 1: our stars. On gathering artists, who does a job well
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  Speaker 1: and very well? These. are the artists, those curious lights.
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  Speaker 1: We are cobblers of the song and barkers of the
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: carnival word. We are tailors of the light and framers
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: of the earth. We fish among the elements and hunt
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: the elusive green in gray and blue. We drink forbidden
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: waters and eat an invisible food. In this time of
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: electronic mail and facsimile conversation, we send as our voice
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  Speaker 1: the poem, the bridge, the circuit, the cure whose electricity
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: is made pure. from dreams whose song is sung in
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: the colors yet unnamed drawn from the solitary etudes of
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: the soul and given up in tender to the world
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  Speaker 1: how easy to spend a day writing a poem how
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: hard To spend a life writing a thousand. A poem.
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  Speaker 1: A bridge. A circuit. A story. Cures. Laws. Bowls. The
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: warp and weave and waft of iron... and paper, and light,
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  Speaker 1: and salt. We labor for a lifetime, but take every
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: day off. Who knows what to make of us? We
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: are not the ribcage, but the legs. We are not
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: the steering wheel, but the headlamps. We gather happily, if
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: not often. We can't sit still. We hurry off. Goodbye
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  Speaker 1: to us. Hello to us. A tip of the hat
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  Speaker 1: to us. As we go about the drumming of our stars. Ah,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: such lustrous poems, these poems of light and love and soul.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: If you'd like to read more, you can find each
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: of the poems I share today in books by the
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: poets Langston Hughes and Alberto Rios, and yours truly, Gloria Burgess.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: In fact, you can find my poem, Sanctuary, in my
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: book of poems called The Open Door. It also appears
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: in a number of anthologies and in my book called
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Dare to Wear Your Soul on the Outside. You can
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: hear more about about the power of poetry by listening
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: to some of my other podcasts. I have a show
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: about poetry and the power of healing, poetry and leading,
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: another one that highlights and features Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: I also have a podcast of my interview with poet
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: Elizabeth Austin and a show featuring Dr. Maya Angelou. And yes,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: I know that folks love my podcast on poetry, and
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: I love researching and creating them, so there's more to come.
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: More podcasts about the power of words and the power
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: of poetry. Now, did you know that you can offer
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: poetry anywhere? That's right. You can offer poetry anywhere. In fact...
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: During National Poetry Month, they now have a whole day
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: called Poem in Your Pocket. Poem in Your Pocket. What
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: does that mean? Well, it's a whole day where the
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: idea is to tuck a copy of your favorite poem
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: into your pocket or your purse or your backpack, right?
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: And then you share your poem with folks you encounter
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: during your day, on the bus, In your carpool, when
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: you're walking your dog, or standing in line waiting for
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: your coffee or latte or tea, when you're at work,
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: or at the grocery store, or the bookstore, the fruit stand.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: You get the idea, right? I just love that. Poem
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: in your pocket. And you know what? I want to
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: let you in on a little secret, okay? But this
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: is the kind of secret you can share with others.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: So what's the secret? Well, here it is. You don't
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: have to wait until Poem in Your Pocket Day to
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: share poetry. That's right. You don't have to wait. You
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: can share a poem anytime, anywhere, with anyone. Okay? Just
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: give it a try. Now, in my own work as
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: a speaker, as a coach, as a facilitator and trainer,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: I use poems all the time. Right? I use poems
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: to help people slow down, to bring them into a room, right?
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: to help them remember to breathe, right, and to help
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: them remember who they are and to remember who and
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: what is important. I use poems to build bridges. I
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: use poems to help people reconnect with their purpose and
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: sometimes to find their way, right, to find their unique purpose,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: their why. I use poems to heal, to inspire, to
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: transcend ordinary time, to enter through the gates of God's time.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: What the Greeks called kairos. Used in these ways, poems
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: become prayers. Poems become prayers. Poems also become a portal.
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: a doorway, a threshold that we cross that urges us
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: to stop, look, and listen, to truly pay attention to
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: who and what matters. Now just think about this. If
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: you want to transform your relationships or your family or
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: your friendships, your team at work, your organization, guess what?
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: You first have to transform yourself. And one of the
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: best ways I know is to do that through poetry.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: To allow yourself to stop, look, and listen spiritually, intellectually, emotionally,
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: and physically. How you live How you live is how
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: you do everything. How you live is how you lead. Yourself,
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: your relationships, your friendships, at work, at home, at church,
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: with your kids, your parents, your sisters and brothers. Ask yourself,
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: how am I living today? Not how am I doing today?
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: But how am I living today? Okay. If you missed
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: any part of this week's podcast, or if you missed
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: last week's show, you can download the recording and listen
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: to it at your convenience. You can even listen to
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: it on the go. Check us out at iTunes, Alexa, Spreaker.com,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: or you can listen live or download to listen later
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: right here at www.talknetworkradio.com. Okay? That's www.talknetworkradio.com. All right. We
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: are about to close today's podcast. And I want to
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: thank each of you for tuning in today. Thank you
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: for allowing me to share a bit about my journey
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: with what legacy living is all about. Not just living
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: and learning, but living and learning and serving so that
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: you make a difference in your own life and in
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: the lives of others. It's all about being on purpose
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: every single day, 365-24-7. Legacy Living is one of the
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: many ways to make your life count. Before I close
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: today's show, again, I want to thank you for joining
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: me here today. I'm your host, Dr. Gloria, Gloria Burgess,
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: and this has been Legacy Living, Make Your Life Count.
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: Please join me again next week right here on iTunes, Alexa, Spreaker.com,
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: or Talk Network Radio for another show, another podcast of
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: Legacy Living, Make Your Life Count. Don't just count the
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: days in your life. Make the days in your life count.
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: That's what legacy living is all about. Have a fantastic day,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: and remember, make the days in your life count. God bless.
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: That's our show today. I'm your host, Dr. Gloria. Gloria Burgess.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll join me again next week. Until then,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: don't just count the days in your life. Make the
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: days in your life count. That's what legacy living is
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: all about. Here's to you. Have a fantastic day. Be
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: sure to make it a yes kind of day. And remember, celebrate. Celebrate.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: the music of your life. Make the days in your
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: life count.