Daily Nourishment for The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Again and Again for the Last Time
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 50 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 10-15 minutes
What did I think was promised in being? - Alex Dimitrov
Pause.
Take six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale.
Prompt.
Read the poem below by Alex Dimitrov. (Found online here.)
Impermanence
The first ending. And knowing it would end
I wanted another. Lover, summer,
pen with which to write it all down.
The first disappointment. Which is not
remembered but lives in the body.
And how familiar it became. To take
the same walk home or lean over ledges,
to say my own name when meeting someone.
Again and again for the last time:
the taste of salt in the afternoon.
Flowers for no one—alive and sold on the street.
What did I think was promised in being?
The way a stranger can finish you off.
Once only. And never the same
after that. After knowledge.
How people are being detained
and shot with our money.
All of which cannot prepare us for death
of which I am a student
and which is this country’s business:
the permanence of others.
Even our cruelty toward one another.
Will end. And I know
that looking at the night sky
is me looking at the past. At light
that’s long escaped and travels alone
but won’t always.
Practice.
Choose seven words, phrases, or lines in the poem above that have the most energy for you right now.
Write them down in your notebook or journal.
Read your collection of words slowly a few times aloud and a few times in silence.
Then doodle or take notes for five minutes. Try to respond to whatever comes to mind without judgment.
Make It Christmastide: Follow the instructions above while meditating on what you have experienced and encountered during this Christmas season.
Want More?
Listen to this podcast episode from The Paris Review
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Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
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