Hello Friends,
Below is my favorite fundraising-related poem. Notice that the inaugural state poet laureate of Arizona, Alberto Ríos, uses couplets throughout this piece but ends with a single line — making today’s poem-a-day similar to yesterday’s poem-a-day in terms of form.
Enjoy.
Ellen
When Giving Is All We Have
One river gives
Its journey to the next.
We give because somebody gave to us.
We give because nobody gave to us.
We give because giving has changed us.
We give because giving could have changed us.
We have been better for it,
We have been wounded by it—
Giving has many faces: It is loud and quiet,
Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails.
Its story is old, the plot worn and the pages too,
But we read this book, anyway, over and again:
Giving is, first and every time, hand to hand,
Mine to yours, yours to mine.
You gave me blue and I gave you yellow.
Together we are simple green. You gave me
What you did not have, and I gave you
What I had to give—together, we made
Something greater from the difference.
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Poet Alberto Ríos was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 22, 2014.