My friend, the uniquely talented poet and actor Harry E. Northup has a new book of poems just published, LOVE POEM TO MPTF, that I highly recommend, as the blurb I wrote for it on the back of the book expresses. It was an excerpt from this longer one I sent, saying they could use whatever part of it they wanted to (I have a tendency to send more than required and to break the lines in my emails turning them into poems):
"When I was recovering from a cancer operation in 2001,
Harry E. Northup’s book Reunions arrived in the mail.I was in deep despair and could not read or find any en-
joyment in music or all the creative work of others that
had sustained me throughout my life. But I opened the
book and read the first poem, like a diary entry from a
highly perceptive, honest, and humble observer of his
own life in all its ordinary and extraordinary elements.
I kept reading, and in the process was returned to my
own life and all the creative forces that enriched it. I
saw this as a unique experience, but with this new book,
Love Poems To MPTF, I see poetry that any and every-
one can find life sustaining. There is more wisdom in
the lines of the poems in this book than in any book of
poems I can think of, unless you consider Lao Tzu’s
The Tao Te Ching poetry. It will sit on a shelf beside
the volumes of holy insight and wisdom I find essential."
Here's a poem from the book
"Holiness That Never Exists"
To be in a holiness that never exists
Except in prayer, asking for help,
Giving thanks, feeling broken
To be in a holiness that never exists
Except in touching my wife's body,
Greeting my neighbors, loving my son
To be in a holiness that never exists
Except in smelling a freshly cut rose,
Seeing a rabbit sit still, a squirrel, lizard
To be in a holiness that never exists
Except in speaking an epic's words out
Loud, seeing a circle, a square, a door
To be in a holiness that never exists
Except in being rescued by a friend,
Given a home in the Motion Picture &
Television Fund
To be in a holiness that never exists
Except in admitting betrayal, vulnerability,
Grace, desire, hurt, hands, grief, home
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