Oh what a lovely hubbub!

This morning I opened my email to find an entry on the beautiful blog of author Patti Digh - in which she receives a personal note from Billy Collins - the poet I most admire. My heart stopped. I read it again slowly - the words from Billy - the magical, lyrical sounds of love and lilacs, the deep admiration from one poet to another. I went rushing through the house to breathlessly announce to my husband my outrageous jealousy, my petty smallness at wanting to snatch the letter from her hand and make it be to me. He was putting his boots on for a day out working in the cold, and try as he might, could not grasp the depth of my hysteria. Just last night I was compiling my submission to a poetry contest that Billy Collins is judging.

My note to him to accompany my submission reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Collins,

It is an honor to imagine you might personally read my writing. I have long loved yours and can be lost within the lines, pleasantly daydreaming for hours. You have such a talent. This, of course, is not news to you - but I am tongue-tied and juvenile, blushing and stammering at this brush with greatness.

You can imagine the cruelty of fate - that on the morning after I so excrutiatingly selected just the right poems to send to this master of the art - the delightful Patti receives lovingly crafted words written specifically to her, about her, praising her and cooing over her.

Wrestling with wanting to be happy for her - and wanting to write a dutiful congratulations, I read the post one more time, and realized her affrontery. Her daring and glorious coup! The letter so eloquently written, was her "reading between the lines" of a scrawled autograph. This was her own dear love letter written in her own hand - as if it had been written by her beloved Billy Collins.

I laughed out loud. The genius of it. I read some of the responses - many were taken in, many more will be, I'm sure. I congratulate her willingly for the way she can view herself - with such tenderness and devotion. Not many of us are able to see ourselves as radiantly as dear Patti.

Please read her 37 days blog and enjoy!

Comments

[Chaz]

What a lovely post! I always encourage my students to ask themselves "what do you love about yourself?" If you can't think of something immediately, it should make you question how you value yourself. You are not just a mother, a daughter, your occupation. You are love, compassion, patience, courage, etc.

Peace and smiles,
Chaz

[Liesl]

So true! I love that you see that!