Xennial Memes
Screenshot of a poem page. Title: "I Am Learning to Abandon the World" by Linda Pastan. Poem text: "I am learning to abandon the world before it can abandon me. Already I have given up the moon and snow, closing my shades against the claims of white. And the world has taken my father, my friends. I have given up melodic lines of hills, moving to a flat, tuneless landscape. And every night I give my body up limb by…

Linda Pastan Poem: I Am Learning to Abandon the World

Linda Pastan's poem "I Am Learning to Abandon the World" on grief, aging and small morning reprieves, shared for Xennials facing loss and midlife.

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Screenshot of a poem page. Title: "I Am Learning to Abandon the World" by Linda Pastan. Poem text: "I am learning to abandon the world before it can abandon me. Already I have given up the moon and snow, closing my shades against the claims of white. And the world has taken my father, my friends. I have given up melodic lines of hills, moving to a flat, tuneless landscape. And every night I give my body up limb by…

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Screenshot of a poem titled "Why Are Your Poems so Dark?" by Linda Pastan. Text: Isn't the moon dark too, most of the time? And doesn't the white page seem unfinished without the dark stain of alphabets? When God demanded light, he didn't banish darkness. Instead he invented ebony and crows and that small mole on your left cheekbone. Or did you mean to ask "Why are you sad so often?" Ask the moon. Ask what it has… Plain black serif text on a white background, three numbered verses. 12. Harmful beings are everywhere like space itself. Impossible it is that all should be suppressed. But let this angry mind alone be overthrown, And it's as though all foes had been subdued. 13. To cover all the earth with sheets of leather— Where could such amounts of skin be found? But with the leather soles of just my shoes It is as though I… Black serif text on a white background. Title: "Sentimental Moment Or Why Did The Baguette Cross The Road?" Byline: "Robert Hershon". Poem: "Don't fill up on bread / I say absent-mindedly / The servings here are huge // My son, whose hair may be / receding a bit, says / Did you really just / say that to me? // What he doesn't know / is that when we're walking / together, when we get / to the curb / I sometimes… Photo of a book page numbered 9 between red and black rules. The poem reads: "Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity." Faint mirrored text shows through from the reverse side. Black serif text on a plain white background reads: "Not everyone deserved to know me, to touch the pieces I so freely offered before I knew that knowing me is a privilege; my time, my heart, my trust. But I don't regret it. Maybe they needed those pieces of me. Maybe they learned something. I know I did." Below it: "Stephanie Bennett-Henry". Photo of a book page. Header in italics: Marjorie Saiser. Poem title: IF I CARRY MY FATHER. Text: I hope it is a little more / than color of hair / or the dimple or cheekbones / if he's ever here in the space I inhabit / the room I walk in / the boundaries and peripheries / I hope it's some kindness he believed in / living on in cell or bone / maybe some word or action / will float close to the surface / within my…

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