Matthew Lafferty

Poster for the movie Red (of the Three Colors trilogy)

This is how you live a life

a man in a suit and tie is making a funny face in front of a window . Alt: Michael Scott from The Office, tearing up

Genuinely, thank you for putting it so neatly, I really needed it

My heart is feeling just a tiny bit lighter tonight

What a beautiful thing, that I saw this tonight, after having a similar (if longer) exchange with someone very close to me who has caused a great deal of pain in the last year

There is always hope while we are able and willing to return to and welcome each other with kindness

Du Fu, trans. Arthur Sze, full poem text below Spring View The nation is broken, but hills and rivers remain. Spring is in the city, grasses and trees are thick. Touched by the hard times, flowers shed tears. Grieved by separations, birds are startled in their hearts. The beacon fires burned for three consecutive months. A letter from home would be worth ten thousand pieces of gold. As I scratch my white head, the hairs become ewer: so scarce that I try in vain to fasten them with a pin.

The nation is broken, but hills and rivers remain.

Du Fu, trans. Arthur Sze

and the old years blow back / like a wind /

—Lucille Clifton

Let's have more poems this year, hm?

Two from Lowland Hum, obviously

Make me steady like a melody
Make me humble like a wheat field
Make me soft as an open window
Help me love what is unending
Help me love what is unending
Help me love what is

(from Morning Meal)
---

One cannot become
Simple and true in one day

(from Winter Grass)

How good it is, indeed

Garden To have a child is to be a child is to take on gravity from both ends, downspirallingdown through time mutually nurtered across the silent reach dawn, into each new morning, into the patient quiver of a midday breeze, dusk, yielding to the icy harmonies of night. Grandparentsounds, bell melodies from the deepshadow of memory Enchanted by wounds we do not yet comprehend great, gaping days impel us whispering, blossoming, becoming We keep a welcome witness as roots extend in expectation as seeds become garden— put your hands with mine into the warm rolled soil.

Apparently it's National Poetry Day in the UK, so here's a poem in progress.

For context, this weaves in some phrases & words from the poems my grandpa wrote for his grandkids' births, and the title "Garden" is a play on his poem "Seed", which was written for his own children.

Poem on, friends.

In an autumn of personal sorrow, this poem is burrowing deeper into my heart than usual, which is saying something

B To be. To love an other only for being.

Denise Levertov, always

In the last couple months, I've bought the collected poems of Czesław Miłosz, two by Denise Levertov, and one by Adrienne Rich, and I am seriously thinking about taking a break from social media until I finish them all

palgorithm > algorithm

starting to think we should give "strange women lying in ponds distributing swords" a chance as a basis for our system of government

The #1 way to explain America working properly is by saying “comedians can make fun of he President on TV.” A good way to explain fascism is “the President forces companies to fire those comedians as a condition of allowing them to conduct business.”

This is probably gonna sound nuts, but I have an idea for a 2P semi-cooperative physical adaptation/spinoff of... Balatro? So if that sounds like a thought experiment you'd like to partake in, hit me up 🎲✂️

Update: I finally did give away my copy today

Nothing quite like poetry so good you simply *must* physically put it in someone else's hands

a man in a black shirt is making a funny face and says `` this '' . Alt: a man in a black shirt is making a funny face and says `` this '' .

💯

Confession: I did not have it in myself to read Larks that night, and it sat on my desk accusingly for two months, but I just read the whole collection in a single sitting, and I am without words

I may have to give the book away, it's that good

I swear I was going to make this joke in December

Attention is the universe folding out of and back into itself, we are only the eyes

Oh my gosh, I legitimately just snorted, that is *incredible*

How DO you always have such a wonderful poem for the moment, my goodness

It never ceases to amaze me how kids, as ridiculous they can be, are able to just say The Real Thing like that

I'll admit I do not immediately know what that means, but that's just one reason I'm grateful to know and & interact with you: now I get to go look it up and learn things :)

Hey, we're birthday neighbors--I turn 43 tomorrow!

As ever, I am glad for your voice. The happiest of days to you, friend!

This is absolutely terrific and what I needed to see right now. More of this type of thing.

Saint Motel on stage performing at House of Blues Cleveland

Just saw Saint Motel at House of Blues Cleveland, because our 17yo is a fan, and it was legitimately a great show, definitely would recommend