{"id":1165,"date":"2005-10-21T18:36:57","date_gmt":"2005-10-22T02:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/2005\/10\/21\/recognition\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:26:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:26:26","slug":"recognition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/2005\/10\/21\/recognition\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognition"},"content":{"rendered":"

I haven’t written a poem in two months, so I turned to my library for inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n
Recognition<\/cite><\/center>
Playing truth or dare an hour before daylight
among the bean trees, I encounter a stranger at the gate.
When I ask what she is doing, she replies,
“Composing a life.” She seeks to answer the question,
“Is there no place on earth for me?”<\/p>\n

I ask how she will know the answer, and she says
she will track her progress in the stone diaries.
She has an amazing grace, this girl with a pearl earring
wearing borrowed finery, and I want to know more.
I ask with an open heart, open mind, what it is she seeks.<\/p>\n

She wants to understand the savage inequalities,
to have a reckoning with the fact that she lives
in a world where the poisonwood bible increasingly
becomes the rule of law. She wants to help people
to stop running with scissors and enjoy the perfection
of the morning. <\/p>\n

We are surrounded by landscapes of wonder, if we
would only make the effort to see differently.<\/p>\n

She in turn asks what I seek. I reply that I want
the courage to be, to cast a slender thread
of hope into the sea, the sea of humanity.
I want to plant new seeds of contemplation,
embrace the grace in dying. I want to
know the mystery of tying rocks to clouds.<\/p>\n

From her angle of repose under oleander,
jacaranda, the magnificent spinster listens.
I tell her she has a beautiful mind, that
I can see the molecules of emotion swirling in her.
She tells me that I am a succulent wild woman,
that I have zen under a wing. She reminds me
that art is a way of knowing and solitude
a return to the self.<\/p>\n

Then we part, blessing each other with traveling
mercies, with a promise to meet again
at the healing circle in Gilead.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

If these words ring a bell for you, look below to see why.
\n
\nTruth or Dare <\/a>
\nAn Hour Before Daylight<\/a>
\nThe Bean Trees<\/a>
\nA Stranger at the Gate
\nComposing a Life <\/a>
\nIs There No Place on Earth for Me?<\/a>
\nThe Stone Diaries<\/a>
\nAmazing Grace<\/a>
\nGirl With a Pearl Earring<\/a>
\nBorrowed Finery <\/a>
\nOpen Mind, Open Heart<\/a>
\nSavage Inequalities<\/a>
\nA Reckoning <\/a>
\nThe Poisonwood Bible<\/a>
\nRunning With Scissors <\/a>
\nPerfection of the Morning<\/a>
\nLandscapes of Wonder<\/a>
\nTo See Differently<\/a>
\nThe Courage to Be<\/a>
\nA Slender Thread<\/a>
\nThe Sea, The Sea<\/a>
\nNew Seeds of Contemplation<\/a>
\nThe Grace in Dying<\/a>
\nTying Rocks to Clouds<\/a>
\nAngle of Repose <\/a>
\nOleander, Jacaranda <\/a>
\nThe Magnificent Spinster<\/a>
\nA Beautiful Mind<\/a>
\nSucculent Wild Woman<\/a>
\nUnder a Wing<\/a>
\nArt Is a Way of Knowing<\/a>
\nSolitude: a Return to the Self<\/a>
\nTraveling Mercies<\/a>
\nThe Healing Circle<\/a>
\nGilead<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven’t written a poem in two months, so I turned to my library for inspiration. RecognitionPlaying truth or dare an hour before daylightamong the bean trees, I encounter a stranger at the gate.When I ask what she is doing, she replies, “Composing a life.” She seeks to answer the question, “Is there no place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-humanities","category-social-science"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10942,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions\/10942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}