Kindness And Good Form In Word and Shape

(From Calligrammes by G. Apollinaire, subtitled Poems of war and peace 1913-1916)

Today was a different sort of day but has led to a thread of goodness. It started off optimistically after the long slog of four constant weeks of work and then sort of turned into a productive afternoon of optimism and led to a few resentments, especially after missing the first and then tonight's second yoga class, in favor of a computer.  Sometimes not putting things into words is the best way of making them known in another way shape or form.

And sometimes poets take words and make shapes out of them. Calligrams, making the words of poetry into the shape of the theme of the work, is something I would never attempt but admire. While I cannot draw, it’s a good night if I dream in shapes, in words, or in both, and not because of my crossword puzzle habit. But imagery comes in many forms.  I remember a long time ago having to learn this term, calligram, for AP English and I think I probably mocked it-- an eye-roll here, a pronounced nasal exhale there…

However, it turns out the person who popularized this art form is also someone who is known for coining the phrase “surrealism” in art. Yeah—bet you can’t name him either. His name is Guillaume Apollinaire and he fought in WWI, was wounded and then survived to do some great work as a critic and innovator of language until his death—two years later, in 1918, of nothing less than the Spanish Flu. And lest we forget to mention that in his few years of life, this is a man not only befriended Picasso and nearly every other artist during their day, but, and I love this-- Apollinaire was accused of stealing the original Mona Lisa. Not a dull life in 38 years.

In an effort to get out of today’s mentality, I have taken a quote from another author and re-arranged the words to create something new. It’s not a calligram per-se but it’s how I feel and, well, as the Treegap Governess, nothing’s wrong with feeling and writing and sharing. These words, re-arranged are how I would see my heartbeat if I were hooked up to a monitor and where I think the rhymes should fall when reading this out loud.

Believe,
when you are most
unhappy,
that there is something
for you
to do
in the world.
So long as you
Can sweeten another's pain,
life is not in vain.