Read the poem
Do your own reflection on it, noting what it inspires in you
Feel free to use your own reflection as your prompt or…
Use the selection of prompts below the poem
Pick one that inspires you and write (feel free to use only one or write several poems using different prompts) or…
Don’t use any of the provided prompts and follow your inspiration from wherever it comes
One’s Ship Comes In
I swear
my way now will be
to continue without
plan or hope, to accept
the drift of things, to shift
from endless effort
to joy in, say,
that robin, plunging
into the mossy shallows
of my bird bath and
splashing madly till
the air shines with spray.
Joy it will be, say,
in Nancy, pretty in pink
and ruffled T-shirt,
rubbing sleep from her eyes, or
joy even in
just this breathing, free
of fright and clutch, knowing
how ones ship comes in
with each such breath.
by Joe Paddock
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/joe-paddock
Please join in for Round 4 of Writing From The Inside Out by attending the July 2020 read-around sessions on Friday afternoons (it’s free, fun, a great way to share, and reading a poem is optional). If you have not registered, click the button below; and if you have registered, you do not need to register again, simply use the link sent to you in your confirmation email.
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Next Read Around is July 10, 2020 at 4:00 PM PST
My Thoughts
Perhaps there’s no greater balm for the toil and turmoil of our lives than to find joy in simple, every day moments, especially while living in a pandemic. Joe Paddock’s poem, One’s Ship Comes In, brings a quiet jubilance to every day life against the backdrop of the endless effort we put into things. I know this well because I have caught myself, many times, exerting more effort than required, making things more difficult than they need to be, bracing against some anticipated challenge, or bearing down on past troubles. For instance, I recall my first time changing the AC filter above the exhaust vent cover in my house. I was trying to force the vent out of the frame, cursing the manufacturers for such a poor design, when my hand slipped and I sliced my finger on a sharp metal edge. I let go, with a shriek and the whole vent, frame and all, dropped down easily, then stopped, held in place by the clips on the sides just as it was designed to do. I laughed and cried at my bloody finger realizing that all I had to do was pull the frame down gently for it to release.
The Title of Paddock’s poem also captures another way we make our lives difficult. Many of us live in the preceding word commonly associated with the phrase “one’s ship comes in":” waiting… We live in a kind of earthly purgatory waiting for the wound to heal, longing for the life we are waiting to live and the love we are waiting to give, without realizing the possibility that the joy we are waiting to feel arrives in every breath. Paddock’s poem begins with a simple vow to “shift from endless effort to Joy.” It may not always be easy, it often may not work, it sometimes may not even be appropriate. But if you’re going to put effort into something, why not into that?
Week 13 Prompt Menu
Free write using the stem sentence: “I swear my way now will be…”
What might it mean to you to “continue without plan or hope?” In Paddock’s jubilant poem, this condition has a feeling, to me, of liberation. But is it really possible to live without a plan? Without hope? What would that state of being actually be like? Have you had that kind of experience? If so, write about it or write what you imagine it would be like.
I know that I have been conditioned to struggle and have caught myself, many times, making things more difficult than they need to be. Write about your experience with struggle. Describe a time from your life when you put more effort into something than was needed.
Paddock offers a beautiful description of the robin in the bird bath. Find something in nature or some small act, like the way a squirrel sits up and fluffs and flicks its tail, and describe it in detail.
Paddock adds a loving comment about his wife, Nancy, and the joy she brings him. Think of someone in your life who has a quirk or mannerism, or some moment of appearance, that gives you delight and write about it.
The poem refers to “breathing, free of fright and clutch.” Describe patterns in your breath and what triggers them.
Write what it would be like if “your ship came in":” What does the phrase mean to you? Take the metaphor further: What kind of ship is it (a cruise ship, a battle ship, a yacht, a schooner; an ark, etc.)? What is it’s condition? What longed for cargo does it bring?
Write about where you find joy. Or, write an ode to joy.
Write from whatever else in the poem inspires you or from elsewhere in your life.