Work and Love and 3 Poems for Labor Day

Labor Day is always the third day in a 3-day weekend. It’s a day for picnics, fireworks, walks in the park, long bike rides, and time with friends and family. But it is also a good day to reflect upon the meaning of work – and specifically on the meaning that you put into your work. Two of my favorite poems celebrate the sacredness of doing good work. “Work is love made visible” is one of the best-known lines in Kahlil Gibran’s poem On Work, included in his beautiful little book The Prophet. To be of use by Marge Piercy is a celebration of “people who jump into work head first / without dallying in the shallows.” I discovered this poem in the book Teaching with Fire, in which teachers speak about the poems that have inspired them with the courage to teach.  I am not a poet but because Maggie, a character in my book The Healing Tree, was a hospital poetry therapist, I did write some poems for her. One of them is called Be Careful What You Pray For: • I prayed for wealth / was given more work; • I prayed for strength / was called to exercise; • I prayed for peace / was told to serve; • I prayed for wisdom / was shown the library; • I prayed for generalities / was answered with specifics. This Labor Day I pray that you will enjoy some fun and sun. And I hope that as you yourself pray for generalities, you will listen for the answers that come as specifics.

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