Tuesday, August 14, 2012

In Praise of the Ordinary

My daughter's Yorkie: Penny Joy


High praise for the Ordinary Day:
days when the skies dont rain bombs,
when the tornado doesnt hit,
when you dont suddenly find yourself, 
near death and helpless, in the hospital.

Praise to the string of uneventful days
that follow each other like cheerful baby ducks:
nothing disastrous, nothing traumatic,
no unique pronouncements,
no confrontations or misunderstandings,
or worries:
just one's ordinary days,
full of the everyday goodness of porches and gardens,
of evening and birdsong,
of cooking and eating and clearing up,
of shaking the small carpet out the back door,
the aging old horse whuffing over the fence,
the elderly woman snipping the dead heads 
off of the geraniums.

Praise to the song of the sprinkler
as it shush-shush-shushes in the meadow.
Praise to puffy perfect clouds 
and wandering windsong,
to Day's End and Night's Rest
and, most miraculous of all,
praise to waking: eyes opening once again
on a brand new day.

Praise for it all, the uneventful days 
one doesnt remember, looking back,
unremembered because of no crisis, no trauma,
no illness, no death,
full of fat dogs on their backs, 
contented, waving their paws at the sky,
full of timorous little birds pecking at the feeder,
full of bemused wonder, 
gazing at the late summer sky.
Praise for days that one knows, by now, 
to cherish best
for their simple uneventfulness,
which we have come to recognize
as one of life's greatest blessings.

Praise for the ordinary extraordinary day,
because it is the most blessed
of them all.



Written for Mary's prompt at Poet's United's Vice/Versa this week :  
unique/ordinary, and condemn/praise

Yippee! An Idea popped into my head, which has been distracted trying to Catch Up OnLine (last time I did was spring of 2011 and I was still in my trailer! Sigh.) Summer has accelerated to a ridonkulous degree, me running along behind, mopping my brow and muttering to myself. Trying to visit you all, kids, have patience with me. 

33 comments:

  1. Praise to ordinary days... Uh huh.
    Your cooking and eating and clearing up made me smile. Chloe just called she's at her Grammies in Moncton now and her cousin was there. They just had scrambled eggs and he'd said to her: "I'm not clearing up, cooking and doing dishes is women's work" He's 18! She said "Yeah well, that's what you think. When I get my job, I'm going to employ someone to do it for me." LOL Kids!
    Loved this Sherry, if only life was full of ordinary days without the drama that so often pops up. :)

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  2. Killer write Sherry! You have hit the nail on the head. Such good truths here. Love it!

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  3. Praise be those uneventful and ordinary days....such a lovely reflection on the days of our lives....I can only hope for more of these as the years go by ~

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  4. You have really nailed the wonder of ordinary days here, Sherry! It is so nice not to have extraordinary problems to deal with on days and to be able to just sail along stress free and breathe and smile and just BE! Nice write.

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  5. Praise them indeed, as long as your 'ordinary' is not tragic (homeless, abused, etc).

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  6. this is wonderful! you never really realize how wonderful a "string of uneventful days" are until you haven't had enough.

    beautiful work.

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  7. Amen! And I am grateful for every single detail that makes up this marvelous ode to uneventful days! Remember that line in "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder when the Stage Manager warns Emily to pick an ordinary day, that ordinary days are special enough? Right he was; right you are. Thank you for this poem!

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    1. Today I am with the cheerful baby ducks and the fat dogs on their backs. Thanks for reposting this ode to an ordinary day. I love it!

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  8. Such a wise post!



    Aloha from Waikiki
    Comfort Spiral
    =^..^=
    > < } } ( ° >

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  9. Never before have I felt the blessedness of the ordinary. Too often we miss the best of life while seeking something "better." Yes, praise to the song of the sprinkler! I appreciate how you've inspired me to look at the ordinary with new eyes.

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  10. Sherry, this is full of gold nugget: the sounds, the scenes, and the grace of thanks. I wish you many more days like these.
    "Many happy Returns of the Day" is my favourite birthday wish. Why not every day of the year?

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  11. ordinary days is the quiet I lQQk for. Hope you receive an abundance of them just like the one in this piece.

    Have a wonderful day mi amiga

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  12. You are a great vistor. I appreciate how you keep me encouraged on my journey.

    Thanks - and always write about the ordinary!

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  13. praise to those days indeed...love the sound of the sprinkler and days when there is little worry and it is most ordinary in all its glory...smiles.

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    1. hey, i been here...but iw ill still take some ordinary days for sure...and for finding the beauty in the simple things like sprinklers....

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  14. This is lovely, Sherry.

    I like the part about uneventful days, unremembered because of no crisis. Don't we wish we had those all the time. :-)

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  15. Of course, I love this, Sherry! You and I have always shared an appreciation for life's simple pleasures and the optimism to always search out the good, however well it's hidden from us..LOL!

    Little Penny is delightful...reminds me of Meeghan in that first picture...:)


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  16. Well Done! You so captured the view...I, too love the simple, ordinary! Drama is not my idea of a good time. Somehow it follows me...
    Yes, praise to the extraordinary in the ordinary...it is a fabulous view~
    I love the "everyday goodness of porches and gardens of evening and birdsong," Beautiful view you shared! I loved it~

    Penny is adorable ;D

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  17. I love your praise for the ordinary day, Sherry. In fact, I shall allow this thought to carry me through the week ahead. Thanks for linking up this poem - we all need a reminder now and then.

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  18. it is true... we can be so thankful for those days...untraumatic..unexciting.. maybe not so memorable but they give us the stability and space to breathe that we need...loved the cheerful baby duck image...made me smile..

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  19. It was great to reread this poem again, Sherry. Since the majority of our days ARE ordinary, I think we really have to appreciate each one for what it is!

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  20. your words are such an eye opener Sherry...we are indeed blessed for those ordinary, uneventful days of life....what a wonderful flow of gratitude......
    'most miraculous of all,
    praise to waking: eyes opening once again
    on a brand new day.'....my fav. lines...

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  21. I was just having a conversation with my husband about the blessings of ordinary-ness, not attached to striving, being the best, most noticed or longing to be approved of by everyone. Having two teenagers at home and plenty of illness, lack of drama sounds wonderful to me.

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  22. Praise to ordinary days as they are part of the journey and if it weren't for ordinary days we would
    not know the joy of the extra-ordinary days..

    I really enjoyed this Sherry..nice capture of life..

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  23. I love how you describe the bliss of what an ordinary.. and especially the dogs lying on their backs made me smile... maybe we should be like that.

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  24. This puts things in perspective.
    And so beautifully too.

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  25. Reading this again -beautiful message and praise for those simple ordinary extraordinary days ~

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  26. Excellent one...it seemed that I'm visualizing the lines..so vivid yet so simple !

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  27. wonderful message, Sherry!
    yes, be thankful for each ordinary day. :)

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  28. wow such a gr8 observer you are and better poet that u have captured every little detail of uneventful days but yet what makes them special.loved them.

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  29. All these isolated ordinary events combined make a picture of beauty. Sprinklers and geraniums=Ah!

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  30. praise for the ordinary -- yes! there is much beauty to treasure here!

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  31. Such a wonderful treasure trove of common sense wisdom you spill from your fingertips. I'm also trying to catch up. Figure I probably never will but it does keep me busy.

    Elizabeth

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