The Apostrophe Blog
To have come this far is no small achievement:
what you have done already is a glorious thing.
—C.P. Cavafy
The city of ideas remains alive and well and living between the covers of many a book. I seek out volumes that teach me things, that remind me of the necessity of history and creativity and having an open and curious mind. I like to read stories of lives that are fraught and complex as well as lives seemingly charmed and well-lived. I like writers who aren’t afraid to utter their opinions. To dive deeply into the subject at hand. To risk unpopularity to speak truth to power. To show humility and vulnerability and grace. I like quotes. I like pithy, inspirational sayings. And I like texts that remind me we are all in this together and have all faced the blank page in exactly the same way.
Below are words of wisdom from Brenda Ueland, C.P. Cavafy, and Mary Oliver for any and every writer—
Everybody is talented, original and has something to say.
—Brenda Ueland
| The First Step |
| The young poet Evmenis complained one day to Theocritos: “I have been writing for two years now and I have composed just one idyll. It’s my only completed work. I see, sadly, that the ladder of Poetry is tall, extremely tall; and from this first step I now stand on I will never climb any higher.” Theocritos replied: “Words like that are improper, blasphemous. Just to be on the first step should make you happy and proud. To have come this far is no small achievement: what you have done is a glorious thing. Even this first step is a long way above the ordinary world. To stand on this step you must be in your own right a member of the city of ideas. And it is a hard, unusual thing to be enrolled as a citizen of that city. Its councils are full of Legislators no charlatan can fool. To have come this far is no small achievement: what you have done already is a glorious thing.” —C.P. Cavafy (translated by Keeley & Sherrard) Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. —Mary Oliver |
Interests: Reading, writing, not arithmetic. The art and craft of poetry. Photography. Vegetable and flower gardening especially heirloom bulbs and dahlias. Movies in real theatres. Theatre on real stages. Art in real galleries. Crossword puzzles and, of course, Wordle. Singer-songwriters like Aimee Mann and Patti Griffin. All kinds of music especially 1930s jazz. Venice, Italy! The Dude abides.
- RIP to Alice Munro, the GOAT of the Short Story - May 14, 2024
- Publication News: Scintilla - May 13, 2024
- Writing in Form: The Prose Poem - May 7, 2024
