tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192213366326272978.post2758352604561288578..comments2013-10-13T13:18:38.378-05:00Comments on Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost: Martyr's PrayerValentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145669290233413736noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192213366326272978.post-74023374783485895192012-02-09T16:04:00.585-06:002012-02-09T16:04:00.585-06:00I'm only talking about certain poems, and they...I'm only talking about certain poems, and they were written in the 60s so I think it's possible that they might have a different tone than some of her other work. I know about her advocacy, but this is the first of her books I've picked up, which is exactly why I was surprised to find these poems. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with them, either, just that they don't really resonate with me where I am right now. Like this, "Lament of a Grouch":<br /><br />I knew<br />That in heaven<br />All are happy.<br />But I wish<br />I'd known<br />The reason<br />Before:<br /><br />Only <br />To the happy<br />Do they<br />Open the door. <br /><br />That's the kind of thing I hear a lot from people who think that depression and anxiety are things to be fixed by praying and having more faith, and I heard that a <i>lot</i> when I was active. Of course it's not necessarily what she's saying, but that's what it made me think about. There's also:<br /><br />"To a Beloved Skeptic"<br /><br />I cannot talk with you of God<br />Since sober wise you grew;<br />So my one recourse in charity<br />Is to talk with God of you.<br /><br />and "The Lord Speaks to a Literary Debauche Newly Arrived in Heaven"<br /><br />Impressive indeed, this shelf of books<br />On which all the earth-critics dote.<br />But oh, m son, how I wish that you<br />Had read the book I wrote.<br /><br />and also "To One Who Worries About Being Found", which wouldn't be bad if it didn't remind me so much of more Young Women and BYU Relief Society lessons than I can count:<br /><br />Does the flower fret<br />That the bee<br />Might forget<br />To buzz by?<br /><br />Ah, no.<br />One concern <br />Has she,<br />And she tends <br />It well:<br />Her own smell.<br /><br />Anyway. It's entirely possible that I'm reading these the wrong way, and that if I'd read any of her other stuff I'd have a better sense of her style. Even knowing what I do about her, though, reading these poems was just a very different experience than what I'd anticipated.Valentinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145669290233413736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192213366326272978.post-20514886598263377602012-02-09T15:21:20.681-06:002012-02-09T15:21:20.681-06:00I like this one because I feel like fire-hot passi...I like this one because I feel like fire-hot passionate tests of faith can be much easier to hold on through rather than the monotonous coldness of having to go through every day. I wouldn't be so quick to assign the "true-blue" label to CLP's work, considering her life and advocacy, but then again, labels like that really frustrate me in general.LovelyLaurenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07940244810358859502noreply@blogger.com