Brian Doyle has a wonderful, tender way of seeing the miraculous in everyday lives. He loved hearing people’s stories, and he wrote about every aspect of life. Here are two “proems,” as he called them, from A Shimmer of Something: Lean Stories of Spiritual Substance; and another proem of his, from one of his many books of poems and essays. You can find more of his proems at https://intrinsicheart.com/what-do-poems-do-and-is-that-your-real-nose/
Agog
Look, here’s what I am trying to say
The old telephone pole is miraculous
And the fallen leaves under the roses.
And the molten flow of the old fence
In the schoolyard, and the hedge you
Don’t even see until it gets a crewcut.
Everything is the most amazing thing
That ever was in this amazing galaxy.
Period, end of discussion. Questions?
~~~~~~~~~~~
A Shimmer of Something
Well, the aged mother of the woman who married me died,
And there are so many stories both sad and hilarious to tell,
But let me tell you just one, because it is little and not little.
At her Mass, after the miracle, but before the electric bread
Went into every soul, as people are shuffling slowly toward
The altar, everyone in the line on the left side, as they came
To the front pew, touched my wife. Some bent down to hug
Her. Some touched her hair gently. Some just placed a hand
On her shoulder. One woman reached down and cupped her
Face in her hands for an instant. Sure I wept. We touch each
Other when we have no other way to speak. We speak many
Languages without words. We are so much wilder and wiser
Than we know. There are so very many of us without words,
Speaking the most amazing and eloquent languages; we sing
With our hands. I have seen it happen. You have seen it, too.
It’s a little thing, but there’s a shimmer of something beyond
Vast. See, I am trying to say an epic thing in this small poem,
And here we are at the end of the poem, where I stop talking.
~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Alley
Here’s a story. My first job, at fifteen, was in a bakery,
Cleaning the vast foul pots and kettles and baking pans
At night, for hours, alone, with horrifying chemicals, &
Finally locking the shop and trudging home in the dark.
I hated it from the first hour but I couldn’t quit instantly
Because I was afraid to be teased and be mortified. This
Went on a week. The back door to the bakery was in an
Alley that looked like a good place to get shot. One day
As I shuffled sadly down the alley I saw a slumped man
Sitting by the back door, smoking. I didn’t know him &
Figured I was about to get rolled. I was sort of relieved,
To be honest, because then I’d have a decent excuse for
Quitting. But when I got there the man stood up, and he
Said boy, I run the shop next door, and I see you in here
Working, and I bet you have not eaten, and that’s awful
Hard work, I know how that guy leaves his kitchenware,
So here’s a sandwich. Now, it’s not from me exactly but
From my wife who has a real sharp eye. So there you go.
I quit a few days later, and at my dad’s instruction I quit
Face to face with the baker, who was furious, and it was
No fun at all, but then I went and said thanks to the lady.
Even now sometimes I see that man smoking in the alley,
And standing up, and being kind to a kid he didn’t know.
Even now I’ll be walking along and suddenly there he is,
Waiting to be kind. We think we are alone but we aren’t.
~~~~~~~~~~
Photo Credit:
Astronomy Picture of the Day, Galaxy UGC 1810
