Skein Home
Author's Works
View without comments
 

Blessed are they who are not in pictures because they took them

Blessed are they who make mix tapes

Blessed are they who listen before they speak

Blessed are they who are always late

Blessed are they who are footnoted

Blessed are they who run at breakneck speed into sliding doors

Blessed are they who take others for rides on motorcycles

Blessed are they who write catchy songs

Blessed are they who remember birthdays

Blessed are they who spend days picking out gifts

Blessed are they who spray-paint stop signs

Blessed are they who leave parties last

Blessed are they who feed pigeons

Blessed are they who put extra sheets on sleeping friends

Blessed are they who play devil's advocate

Blessed are they who call at two in the morning

Blessed are they who make bad jokes

Blessed are they who have baggage

Blessed are they who make coffee well

Blessed are they who find the right word

Blessed are they who fix things in the morning

Blessed are they who make things quick

Blessed are they who tape all the episodes

Blessed are they who make elaborate plans

Blessed are they who lay down their lives

As easily as they would mail a postcard home

For them, I will walk barefoot down Broadway

Until I come to the water

jlewis: All right, dammit, Brantley, now you've made me cry. Right here in the lab, too. Very embarrassing, although I suspect I'm not the only one who'll be easily set off today. Would anyone out there be able/willing to calligraph this for me? :) Seriously, this is pretty amazing, and one of the few memorials I've seen so far that is powerful while being neither mawkish nor hawkish. Thanks for this, this slate-aired, translucent morning. cutler: Misty eyes over here, too. And I didn't even remember the significance of today until I say the papers this morning. I'm not too excited by or invested in the vast majority of memorial things that are going to happen today, but this one was a welcome surprise. Thank you so much, Brantley. laura: I didn't initially read this as a September 11th memorial, but I'd already marked it as something I'll stick on my wall to pause over, as a reminder of why it's worth it. cgroom: I was especially impressed by the last two lines, because they both situate us in the heart of the matter as well as conveying a sudden stop of the poem, the narrator's motion, and the 9/11 events. And yet (Christian optimist that I am) I couldn't help but think of what happens when you reach the water's edge; do you try to walk on it, stare across it, turn around... it's an open ending, very effective. david_a: I took a few days to digest this. It is very emotionally immediate, but I wanted to see if it held up after the 'Hallmark Card anniversary' was over. Well, it does. What I love most is that I recognize loved ones in all the foibles and traits so effectively piled up like incantations. This contrast between the formally elegiac and the touchingly mundane is very poignant. alecia: I love how this piece can be read not only in reference to the 9/11 events (blessed are they who are always late, blessed are they who have baggage), but also-- and so much more-- in reference to daily life, to anyone's life (directly affected or not). This is simple and powerful. Thank you for sharing it with us. samira: Brantley, I did not read this until the 16th, because I spent 9/11 being oriented at the Div School, but this gave me the moment to reflect that I did not take then. Thank you for that. Thank you also for the fact that you did not take any cheep shots for tears--you got them, but not with gimmicks and that is wonderful. Josh, I will ask Laura about calligraphy. Add comment