Blythely Dancing

Is joy a good or necessary thing? Is happiness somehow bad, evil, or unworthy? This is not a comprehensive study, just a couple brief poetic ideas about whether it is right to enjoy life. A Brief for the Defense By Jack Gilbert Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies are not starving someplace, they are starving somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils. But we enjoy our lives because that's what God wants. Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not be made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not be fashioned so miraculously well. The poor women at the fountain are laughing together between the suffering they have known and the awfulness in their future, smiling and laughing while somebody in the village is very sick. There is laughter every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta, and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay. If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction, we lessen the importance of their deprivation. ...

National Poetry Month is nearly over, but poetry will continue to be a part of my life every month. I hope you’ll join me in a poetic odyssey of your own :) Things by Eloise Greenfield Went to the corner Walking in the store Bought me some candy Ain’t got it no more Ain’t got it no more Went to the beach Played on the shore Built me a sandhouse Ain’t got it no more Ain’t got it no more Went to the kitchen Lay down on the floor Made me a poem Still got it Still got it  Poetry Practice by Blythe Stephens Poetry is a lot like dance Or I guess any art It’s going to be crap Until you’ve done a crapload of it So might as well start now (thanks, Ira Glass!)

This poem was part of a collaboration with poet Jenna Robinson and the dancers of my MFA in Dance thesis performance, "The Shrew Unleashed," at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. It was performed for public and school audiences in the spring of 2015. Robinson is an award-winning slam poet. Wonder Woman by Jenna Robinson As a child I always looked up to Wonder Woman An Amazon Seven foot tall Greek warrior A defender of fertility and innocence Like Maori women Who would follow men into battle And come home to raise future chiefs Like African slaves brought to American plantations Who picked cotton all day While carrying their babies on their backs Like immigrants Who cut off their native tongues Hoping to give their children a taste of the American dream I’ve always been self-conscious of this girth But wonder woman allowed me to see size as strength As a long lost descendent of the Amazonian race We were made to fight leagues of...

Don’t Worry if Your Job Is Small Anonymous Don’t worry if your job is small, And your rewards are few. Remember that the mighty oak, Was once a nut like you.  And speaking of being a nut, here’s a close call I survived as a motorcyclist back in, what, 2013? Car drivers do not always look for motorcyclists and bicyclists like they should.  Blood Donor by Blythe Stephens Did you Donate Blood? Yes To Beretania Street Suddenly intimately familiar With the contours of asphalt In a slow-motion slither That lady didn’t see me As she turned right  From Punahou There under the huge banyan trees That thick smell in the air Fresh from a rain shower Good on me Not running right into her But sliding across the street nonelethess Motorcycling in nothing  but a helmet, boots,  hoody and leggings I wasn’t going far! Saved by reflexes And at least one guardian angel

My favorite poetry often celebrates life and love, and reminds me of all the best things existence has to offer. However, sometimes that celebration means wallowing in the difficulty, struggle, and pain as well. For me, it’s endeavoring to revel in whatever state I’m currently in, to really feel it and move through it, aware that change is coming.  I am a big believer in a nice, hard cry from time to time. It can’t be healthy to hold in emotion, but we can’t always just express them freely anytime, so I find it’s best to vent at appropriate times and have a lot of outlets. After the rain comes sun, and feeling down sometimes is a natural part of life! Crying by Galway Kinnell Crying only a little bit Is no use. You must cry Until your pillow is soaked! Then you can get up and laugh. Then you can jump in the shower And splash-splash-splash! Then you can throw open your window And, “Ha ha! Ha ha!” And if people say, “Hey, What’s going on up there?”...