#npm15: Cascando by Samuel Beckett

National Poetry Month is here! Whoo hoo!!! As promised, I intend to post a poem every day this month, including the ones you suggested. Thanks so much to all of you who sent poems my way.

I'm going to start the celebration with a long-time favorite. Some poems leave a mark. I first read Cascando by Samuel Beckett when I was in college. Not long after, my grandmother died. Maybe that's why the phrase, "there is a last even of last times" stayed with me. There is a last hug, a last look, a last smile -- and we rarely know when the last of last times will be.

Another plus for this poem? For a writer, it's hard to find a line or word more accurate and descriptive than wordshed.

Cascando

     1
why not merely the despaired of
occasion of
wordshed

is it not better abort than be barren

the hours after you are gone are so leaden
they will always start dragging too soon
the grapples clawing blindly the bed of want
bringing up the bones the old loves
sockets filled once with eyes like yours
all always is it better too soon than never
the black want splashing their faces
saying again nine days never floated the loved
nor nine months
nor nine lives

     2
saying again
if you do not teach me I shall not learn
saying again there is a last
even of last times
last times of begging
last times of loving
of knowing not knowing pretending
a last even of last times of saying
if you do not love me I shall not be loved
if I do not love you I shall not love

the churn of stale words in the heart again
love love love thud of the old plunger
pestling the unalterable
whey of words
terrified again
of not loving
of loving and not you
of being loved and not by you
of knowing not knowing pretending
pretending
I and all the others that will love you
if they love you

     3
unless they love you

Choose Something Like a Star

At first glance, "... there is a last even of last times," the Quick Quote for the week, may not appear quite as uplifting as last week's "Wherever you go, go with all your heart" from Confucius.

But there's a reason why it's the Quick Quote. That line is an excerpt from Cascando, a poem I read in college, and never forgot. It was in a collection a friend was ready to toss out -- his poetry class was over, so he had no need for the book. (Hmmm. Maybe this is one reason we're no longer in touch.)

Cascando inspired me. Still does. Another poem that continually inspires me is i carry your heart with me by e.e. cummings. Just once, I'd like to write a line as perfect as i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart).

Now, you may think Cascando is massively depressing. And you may not think cummings ever wrote a perfect line. That's perfectly fine. But here's the deal: To be creative, it helps to find your inspiration -- in poetry, in music, in art, in prayer, in love. Today, choose something like a star, and begin.

#MondayMotivation -- Trust Your Dream

This month marks 15 years since I decided to ignore conventional wisdom (don't quit your day job), trust my dream and launch Sokoloff Harness Communications LLC. I am tremendously grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way, and those who have given me the honor of helping them! My big advice after 15 years?

Throughout August, in honor of the fabulous 15, I'm going to post lists of 15 favorites. I decided, naturally enough, to start with books -- and quickly realized there's no way I could choose 15 favorite books. So, here's today's list of the 15 favorites on my bookshelves. Read fast. It could change tomorrow ...

15 Fabulous Favorites -- Books

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
   Life changing. I still want to be Jo. 
2. Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast
   Drawn from her life. And mine. And quite possibly yours. 
3. This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
   I have several of his other books, and don't like them as well. But, if I could only choose five favorite books of all time, this would make the list. 
4. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
   I could have listed Siddhartha or The Odyssey or Les Miserables ... or any of the books I still have that I read in my lit classes at Center Senior High School. Thank you, Miss Harvey and Mrs. Harper. I'm sorry I argued with you. I'm sure you were right re: that symbolism.
5. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
   I love the book. You can start with the blog. Best description of depression EVER. And that's just part of it. I mean, This is Why I'll Never be an Adult. 
6. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
   Vonnegut is the best-represented author on my bookshelves. I don't have all of his books, but I do have a lot of them. I chose this one because, as I remember, it was the first one I read. 
7. The Eden Express by Mark Vonnegut
   A remarkable memoir by the elder Vonnegut's son. Excellent writing runs in the family. 
8. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
   Also life changing -- nothing like reading this as a young Jewish girl, Anne's age. 
9. i carry your heart with me by e.e. cummings
   My favorite poem, in book form, illustrated by mati mcdonough.
10. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
    If you've ever lost a loved one, and you haven't read this book -- read it. 
11. The Pocket Book of Modern Verse, edited by Oscar Williams
    My first true love gave me this and it includes a few of my all-time favorite poems, including Cascando by Samuel Beckett and A Space in the Air by Jon Silkin. And Robert Frost is in there, so I won't list a Frost collection. 
12. Samurai Widow by Judith Jacklin Belushi
    Fascinating journey through grief and recovery.
13. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
    Reading and discussing this in college was the first time I really went: "Oh. That professor just transformed my entire literary experience." Thank you, Mrs. Ehrlich. 
14. The Associated Press Styebook
    Am I a word nerd? Yes. Do I like rules? Yes. Do I look at this book all the time? Yes. Why clutter up my mind with effect and affect when I have my trusty stylebook?
15. The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope
    My Bobbsey Twin will understand -- as she has, from the days when my love for books began!

I have purposefully not included books written by people I know and/or love and/or am connected to via social media -- like Shanna and Mark and Steve and Cotton and Brian and Bob and Stephanie and Walt and Phil and Donna and Peternelle, because that would have taken up most of the list!

If you have any ideas (or requests) for future lists of 15 Fabulous Favorites, let me know!

Creativity Tips: Celebrate Firsts. And Lasts.

One of my favorite poems, Cascando by Samuel Beckett, includes the phrase, "there is a last even of last times." Today, I am incredibly aware of another truth: There is a last even of first times.

Mary starts her senior year in high school today. Those of you who have loved me for years know what that means ... the annual "first day of school" photo will soon pop up in your email.

Last time, folks. Last first.

For the rest of you, let me explain. Ever since Kate started kindergarten, Tom and I have been among the millions of parents taking photos on the first day of school. We could have just printed the pics, framed them and called it a day. But, where's the fun in that? Instead, I emailed multiple photos to everyone who had ever met the girls, assuming they'd be thrilled.

I mean, heck. We're talking the cutest children ever born. How could you not be thrilled?

For the first few years, it was just Kate in the photos. Then, Kate and Mary, all decked up with new backpacks and eager to go to class. Those first years, the photo frenzy continued from our house all the way to elementary school.

Flash forward to junior high. High school. It was harder to get them to pause for the camera. Almost impossible to get them in the same frame.

Then, whoosh! Kate had the audacity to grow up and go off to college -- out of reach of even my zoom lens. And, for some reason, she refused to take a photo of herself on the first day of school and email it to me so I could forward it. (Yes. I seriously made that request. I do not let go easily.)

So, for the past few years, it's just been Mary -- who may groan and grimace this morning as she runs out to her car, but she will also stop and grin for the camera. Because she's a good kid. And she knows that celebrating firsts, and lasts, is important.

To all of you who have helped send Kate and Mary off to school for the past 15 years, thank you. You have done more than share our joy. You have doubled it.

P.S. I'll post the official "last first" pic here once I have it. You're all part of the family now. No reason why anyone should escape ...

Creativity Tips: World Laughter Day

There is nothing more creatively instigating than laughter. Thanks to everyone who came out to the Greater Kansas City PRSA Solo Pros event yesterday --- what a treat to laugh with all of you!

This Sunday is World Laughter Day, an event Lance at Jungle of Life pointed out to me. Lance and friends are launching The Levity Project. As a first step, they're taking it to the streets of New York City this Sunday to create "playfulness and fun, with the idea that through joy, we can all experience a bit more peace in our world."

If you're in New York, go party! The event is free, but you need to register.

By the by, I will be in Manhattan on Sunday. Manhattan, Kansas. For international CI team members, I couldn't make this up.

Oh! Almost forgot. This is Poem in Your Pocket Day! I decided to go with Cascando, an old favorite by Samuel Beckett. It's in a poetry book so beloved it's now held together with tape. I've lost track of Joel, the boy who gave it to me, but I still have his book!