Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT May 8th 2023

17 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we took a close look at an image from “Guillermo del Toro, Pinocchio (2022)” and read a poem published in Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics (Chatto and Windus, 1907), posted below.

Our prompt was: Write beginning with the words “ Dear Sappho.”

More details will be posted on this session, so check back again!

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

Also, we would love to learn more about your experience of these sessions, so if you’re able, please take the time to fill out a follow-up survey of one to two quick questions!

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Please join us for our next session Friday May 12th at 12pm EDT, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

XII
	Sappho 
 
In a dream I spoke with the Cyprus-born,
      And said to her,
"Mother of beauty, mother of joy,
Why hast thou given to men
 
 
"This thing called love, like the ache of a wound
      In beauty's side,
To burn and throb and be quelled for an hour
And never wholly depart?"
 
And the daughter of Cyprus said to me,
      "Child of the earth,
Behold, all things are born and attain,
But only as they desire,—
 
"The sun that is strong, the gods that are wise,
     The loving heart,
Deeds and knowledge and beauty and joy,—
But before all else was desire.

This poem was published in Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics (Chatto and Windus, 1907), translated by Bliss Carman.

17 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT May 8th 2023”

  1. Elizabeth

    Dear Sappho,

    Over the years so many of us read about you or read your works, but what do we really know about you? Do we know who you really are? Do we understand your essence? Can we really make assumptions about you? For instance, you write about desire – is it because you lack it, you crave it, or have an abundance of it? Again, we cannot make assumptions. This gets me thinking about how we should really not assume anything, but be willing to keep an open mind. And yet, it is human nature to make assumptions all the time. I don’t have a solution to this perplexing situation, and I am assuming you don’t either.

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

    Elizabeth

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    Reply
      • Elizabeth

        Michele— I enjoyed the power in your opening line. I also like that you focused on love versus desire… Big difference. Thanks for sharing.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Elizabeth

        Scarlet—what a wonderfully crafted and rich piece! I am so glad you are back—you were missed! Hope to see you on zoom again soon.
        Elizabeth
        Ps-glad you enjoyed my piece.

        Like

      • Scarlet Kinney

        Thanks, Elizabeth! I’ve missed all of you, too. I hope to be able to attend more regularly going forward.

        Like

  2. michele348

    Dear Sappho,
    who are you to tell me how to live?
    I am a creature who is interlocked with those around me,
    dependant on the sharing of emotions and ideas.
    For me, love is at the top of the hierarchy… it is an everlasting emotion that mankind uses to maneuver through both life’s tragedies and achievements

    To love another involves giving of oneself, emotionally and spiritually, for the benefit of the other. It is generous in the giving.
    If love is reciprocal… that is the perfect outcome, for love soothes the spirit and gives one hope to continue and endure.

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    Reply
  3. Scarlet Kinney

    Dear Sappho,
    That time you stood on the edge of the cliff
    Your grief pouring into the sea below
    The sea that drank and drank and drank
    Your pain
    But never drowned it
    So that in the end
    There was no other way for you
    But to embrace it
    With words you left for the future,
    The gift of your passionate
    Woman knowledge.

    Like

    Reply
      • Scarlet Kinney

        Michele, I was very touched by your note. There’s also the chance that I projected some of my feminism onto her, as women in the arts have been erased throughout history, and still are to a large extent, and from what I recall from my long ago study of her it seems that she experienced that. I’ve always thought of her as a feminist ahead of her time. I recall something she wrote . I can’t remember it word for word after all this time, and am too tired to look it up now, but it went something like this…Men say that the only thing worth writing about is war, and the military feats of men, but I say the only thing worth writing about is love.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Andre F. Lijoi

    Dear Sappho

    We have been gifted by God the desire to love
    the need to love
    the need to be loved
    These can only be attained through desire and
    the willingness to risk
    I would be forlorn if I was not
    given the desire
    to know deeply
    an Other.

    Can we not learn from the Mother of Beauty?
    It is beautiful to know the loving heart
    and for every other human creature it is
    life giving.

    afl

    Like

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      Andre, I enjoyed how your piece left us with the feeling that all roads, whether beauty or desire, ultimately ideally lead to love. Thanks for sharing your work with us.

      Like

      Reply
      • Andre Lijoi

        You are welcome Elizabeth and thank you. We must stay focused. Lots of options
        Andre

        By the way, last week’s piece (Estrangement) was consciously about my affair with medicine. However, it may have been influenced by events like subway violence, war in Europe and divisions driven by politics, etc. I really enjoy these sessions and writing.

        Like

    • michele348

      Desire is the spark which ignites a subsequent form of action. Love may follow, forming a more permanent and somewhat enduring connection. What a sorry state the world would be in without love showing its presence.

      Like

      Reply
      • Andre Lijoi

        Thank you Michele. Our conversation truly went full circle. Provoke so much thoughtful writing. A season of love.
        Andre

        Like

  6. Elizabeth

    Thank you for your reply, Andre. Sometimes it’s hard to stay focused, but we persist.
    Also, thanks for the explanation about last week’s work. It’s never just about one thing, and even if it starts out about being about one thing it can turn quickly into something else. I am continuously interested in people’s processes.

    Like

    Reply

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