Last Friday, we lost Derek Walcott, one of the world’s great poets.  It is fitting that we honor him on #WorldPoetryDay.

On Friday morning on NPR, I woke to hear Tom Hiddleston reading Walcott’s poem, “Love After Love.”  Though I have read the poem many times, when I heard this reading of it, I heard something new.  Poetry is like that.  It can gain meaning when we hear it read aloud or see it through another’s perspective. That’s the premise behind our poetry books, where people reflect on poems that have significance in their work and lives.

We were fortunate to have Congressman Tim Ryan and Retired Principal David Hagstrom reflect on Derek Walcott’s poem, “Love After Love,” in Teaching with Heart and Teaching with Fire.   Below are their reflections, the opening stanza and link to Walcott’s poem and Tom Hiddleston’s reading.  “Feast” on them.

Congressman Tim Ryan’s Reflection:

Too often, we leave the essence of who we are in search of power and energy. We take the bait and follow the signs that society sets up for us. We bend and tuck and pretend in order to meet the definition of who they think we are. We do a helluva job at it. We go days, weeks, years convinced that this is who we really are.

And then, one day, whether through a tragedy, a divorce, a heartbreak, or a sense of impending burnout, we seek to make a change. Faced with an overload of work, I turned to mindfulness meditation and discovered that monitoring how we pay attention and what we pay attention to can lead to significant changes in our lives. We can reclaim our true power and, as Derek Walcott states, arrive at our “own door.” We can peel the stranger from the mirror, and our reflection becomes our truest self, the divinity that lies inside of us.

If we all operated from this source, this awareness, we could shift from a country that operates from fear to one that operates from love. To this end, as a congressman, I proposed the Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act of 2011 to fund initiatives that help children learn the personal competencies that Walcott describes as core to a loving life: self-awareness, self-management, and responsible decision making.

We do not have to look outward for love. It is right here. Wherever we are.
Search no more.

—Tim Ryan
Congressman
Ohio Thirteenth Congressional District
Howland, Ohio

 

Retired Principal David Hagstrom’s Reflection:

As I approach my seventieth year, this poem speaks to me. Hopefully, my time of being the continual pleaser is past. Thankfully, the time of being caught up, constantly, in the personal agendas of others is past.

As a teacher and school principal who has joyfully given of my time and talent to others for almost fifty years, I now find myself—noticing myself. It’s kind of a surprise. It’s sort of a shock. I read the words of this poem gratefully, and I find the invitation given here to be reassuring and comforting.

As I greet myself anew, I find that I really like myself. I am pleased with my peaceful demeanor. I like the quiet steadiness. I love my almost feverish desire to create, to build. I am amazed by my newfound obligation to speak the truth. Feasting on my life makes my heart sing.

—David Hagstrom
Retired Principal
Alaska

 

Derek Walcott: “Love After Love”

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,

 

Tom Hiddleston’s reading of “Love After Love.”