Of Words and Lines

This sentence has to be on the list of great opening sentences. It’s from Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, published in 1761:

“I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me.”

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I think my favorite poem in the Mary Oliver collection No Voyage and Other Poems is “A Dream of Trees.” It’s a poem about the inevitability of struggle in life. I’d love to reprint the whole thing, but here’s one wonderful line to tempt you to find the poem and read it for yourself.

“Whoever made music of a mild day?” (18)

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And another excerpt from one of my favorite poets, Naomi Shihab Nye. This is from the poem “Muchas Gracias por Todo” in her collection titled Fuel:

“The plane has landed thanks to God and his mercy.
That’s what they say in Jordan when the plane sets down.

What do they say in our country? Don’t stand up til we tell you.
Stay in your seats. Things may have shifted.” (1-4)

Thought provoking, isn’t it?

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"Do not despair, one of the thieves was saved; do not presume, one of the thieves was damned."
--St. Augustine