Autumn (almost), again.
Welcome back to 'This Dream is a Poem' where we explore dreams and writing. Today a poem about the return of a season prompts a deep dive into recurring conflicts and the cycles of history.
A friend who knows I’ve embarked on a project to translate the story of Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar from biblical Hebrew into English, suggested I read the poet Jane Hirshfield’s essay on translation, “The World is Large and Full of Noises.”
Which led me to read more of Hirshfield’s poetry.
Which led me to this delicious, bite-sized poem, which in turn inspired some big thoughts about recurring seasons and themes in literature and in life:
Listen in as I read “Autumn” by Jane Hirshfield:
I love this small poem. 👆🏼 I love how each word seems to slip into place, as if inevitably.
I love the empty air between each line, and the skillful development of the image as it is built—and as it diminishes—word by word.
And I love how Hirshfield evokes the recurring darkness that follows the brightness of warmer seasons in poignant and crisp language and imagery.
“Autumn,” by Jane Hirshfield was published by the The Paris Review Issue 109, Winter 1988. You can also find it here.
Read about my journey to reimagine, translate, and transform Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar’s story here.
Then, again
This poem is fitting, here in New England, as the air cools and the leaves begin to loosen from their branches. (Again!)
And it beckons beyond seasonal shifts to recurrences and returns in all areas of life. I think of a friend who is recovering from bouts of lethal cancer. And friends who are struggling with difficult family dynamics that seem to cycle not only from season to season, but from generation to generation. It made me think of current events and wars with ancient and spiraling roots.
Because as I continue to do research for my “Sarah poems,” delving into this origin story of biblical covenants and conflicts over land, I am pulled back through thousands of years’ of history; of tribe against tribe. Again. And again.
At my desk with books and dictionaries piled around me, I translate biblical verses to uproot the words and make them my own. While around me the world continues to turn; the fires continue to burn.
And with each word I write, with each page I turn, I try to loosen the knot in the belly of the story, reaching back and back to find its origins.
But even then I find a hidden door in the floor and what I thought was the bottom drops down to foundations beneath the foundation.
Again. And again.
An invitation to write
Today, write about the return of a season, the recurrence of a situation or syndrome, or consider the return of a personal or collective story. Start with the word Again … and keep writing.
Time to write your poems, stories, and dreams
Speaking of autumn, my fall teaching schedule is shaping up with in-person (in Eastern and Western Massachusetts) and online opportunities to write and dream together.
Saturday, Sept. 21: Dreaming on the Page writing workshop at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA. Free. More info here.
Sunday, Sept. 29: The Yoga of Dreams, a workshop on finding joy in your dreams at Munson Library, Amherst, MA. Free admission with voluntary donations accepted. More info here.
Sunday, Oct. 20, Unearthing Sarah's Story with Creativity and Spirituality at Temple Beth Zion, Brookline, MA. More info here.
Sunday Nov. 3, The Poetic Dream: Tapping into the Subconscious for Creative Inspiration with Tzivia Gover (hosted by Hudson Valley Writers, via Zoom), Registration required, November 3, 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm. More info here.
If you’ve read this far … thank you! And I think you’ll also enjoy my other online publication: The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined, where you can read about my efforts to translate, reimagine, and transform ancient stories through poetry.