Enjoy Lectio Divina poetry reading and discussion with JoAnn Anglin, Monday, February 19th at 10:00 a.m.  Attend via Zoom at www.uuss.org/online.  JoAnn writes:   “I decided to stay with a Valentines’ theme. (sort of).  Remember the poem, No man is an island? Well, here’s one about a man who feels like an island
It also, I think, emphasizes the idea that a poem, as well as a meditation, is about paying attention.

Crusoe
~~by George Bilgere

When you’ve been away from it long enough,
You begin to forget the country
Of couples, with all its strange customs
And mysterious ways. Those two
Over there, for instance: late thirties,
Attractive and well-dressed, reading
At the table, drinking some complicated
Coffee drink. They haven’t spoken
Or even looked at each other in thirty minutes,
But the big toe of her right foot, naked
In its sandal, sometimes grazes
The naked ankle bone of his left foot,
The faintest signal, a line thrown
Between two vessels as they cruise
Through this hour, this vacation, this life,
Through the thick novels they’re reading,
Her toe saying to his ankle,
Here’s to the whole improbable story
Of our meeting, of our life together
And the oceanic richness
Of our mingled narrative
With its complex past, with its hurts
And secret jokes, its dark closets
And delightful sexual quirks,
Its occasional doldrums, its vast
Future we have already peopled
With children. How safe we are
Compared to that man sitting across the room,
Marooned with his drink
And yellow notebook, trying to write
A way off his little island.

From writersalmanac.publicradio.org THURSDAY, 14 DECEMBER, 2006
Poem: “Crusoe” from The Good Kiss. © University of Akron Press. Reprinted with permission.

All are welcome.  Questions about our group? Email