A Gift to Us who have a "Meh..." day

Today was one of these mornings, when I woke up tired because of a bad night with not enough sleep, and I felt "meh...". When I was standing at the bus stop next to my daughter′s school I was thinking what I could do to transform that feeling of annoyance in me and still have a nice, or at least an ok day. I tucked my AirPods in and started to play a poetry podcast called "Poetry Unbound" https://onbeing.org/series/poetry-unbound/ that I like to listen to when I want to give myself some softness and time for reflection.

And as a gift of chance, two poems came to me that helped me transition from my state of bother into acceptance and softness. One was a male version, reminding me for some reason of Bukowski, that in a clear statement created space for the liking of the ugly and the unpraised in us and around us. That was a first step for me towards acceptance of my frustration, tiredness, and the feelings I don't like to start my day with. It is titled "A Poem to See What’s Overlooked" by Lemn Sissay. And then right after came a female poem, more in Rumi style, praising life with its ups and down and seeing the beauty of its everydayness, that helped me soften up. I slowly started to feel transition from seeing the grey dirtiness of a morning city awaking, with bare trees still tired of winter towards observing small flowers popping up from the brown soil, and a little ray of sun, like a child's hand caressing my cheek. That was Joy Harjo′s "Praise the rain". Here they come, I hope they will be nice companions to your day as they've been to mine.

"Some Things I Like. A poem to shout." by Lemn Sissay

I like wrecks, I like ex-junkies,

I like flunks and ex-flunkies,

I like the way the career-less career,

I like flat beer,

I like people who tell half stories and forget the rest,

I like people who make doodles in important written tests, I like being late. I like fate. I like the way teeth grate,

I like laceless shoes cordless blues,

I like the one-bar blues,

I like buttonless coats and leaky boats,

I like rubbish tips and bitten lips,

I like yesterday’s toast,

I like cold tea, I like reality,

I like ashtrays, I write and like crap plays.

I like curtains that don’t quite shut,

I like bread knives that don’t quite cut,

I like rips in blue jeans,

I like people who can’t say what they mean,

I like spiders with no legs, pencils with no lead,

Ants with no heads, worms that are half dead.

I like holes, I like coffee cold. I like creases in neat folds. I like signs that just don’t know where they’re going,

I like angry poems,

I like the way you can’t pin down the sea.

See.”

“Praise the Rain” by Joy Harjo

Praise the rain, the seagull dive

The curl of plant, the raven talk —

Praise the hurt, the house slack

The stand of trees, the dignity —

Praise the dark, the moon cradle

The sky fall, the bear sleep —

Praise the mist, the warrior name

The earth eclipse, the fired leap —

Praise the backwards, upward sky

The baby cry, the spirit food —

Praise canoe, the fish rush

The hole for frog, the upside-down —

Praise the day, the cloud cup

The mind flat, forget it all —

Praise crazy. Praise sad.

Praise the path on which we’re led.

Praise the roads on earth and water.

Praise the eater and the eaten.

Praise beginnings; praise the end.

Praise the song and praise the singer.

Praise the rain; it brings more rain.

Praise the rain; it brings more rain.”